Kataang: What Happened Next
by SimmyChicken
Summary: This happens after Aang tells the Earth King about Zuko changing his mind, and the king going to war. This is my idea of what I think is going to happen. Contains romance and a bit of Toph/The Duke and Sukka. It involves Aang and Katara getting into their first fight, learning how much Katara really means to Aang, and that someone else might be after the couple. And it's not Ozai.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first time writing a Kataang story. I hope you all like it! Please do comment and tell me how I can make it better!

I kinda base this a bit after The Promise, after Aang and Katara learn about how King Kuei tells them that he's going to war with the Fire Nation.

Hope you enjoy!

"Aang?" The young airbender looked up to see Katara staring at him with a look of concern on her face. The two were walking down an abandoned alleyway after being rudely sent out by King Kuei after he had revealed his plan to go to war with the Fire Nation. Aang had pleaded with the king, but he had no luck in changing his mind. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay!" Suddenly, Aang stopped and dropped to his knees, his face in his hands. "The Avatar is supposed to keep war from happening! I shouldn't of told King Kuei, I should have thought the whole Harmony Restoration Movement through. I should have-"

Katara dropped down to her knees, too, in front of Aang and took his hands in hers. "Aang, it wasn't your fault that King Kuei decided to declare war. If anything, it's his fault."

He looked up into her blue eyes, not daring to believe it. "How?" he whispered hoarsely. "How, when it's MY duty to reason with him. Instead, I was sent out like a little kid." He turned his face away as he said the last few words.

She laid her hand on his cheek softly and gently turned his face towards hers. "Because everybody has a choice, Aang. And King Kuei chose the wrong one. It wasn't your fault that he decided not to listen to you. But we can make him chose the right choice later. We'll make him see reason, Aang. I promise," she promised.

He sighed, laying his hand upon the one she had on his cheek, and leaned into it. For a few seconds, he just sat there, feeling Katara's touch, letting it sooth him. "I hope so," he murmured finally, and stood up, helping Katara up as well. Then, to her surprise, he began to smile.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"I'm...just so glad I have you, Katara," he said. He slid his hands away from hers and captured her face in her hands, and brought her in for a kiss. For a second, she froze, but then as his lips met hers, warmth flooded into her, and she closed her eyes, leaning into the kiss. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him closer to her, loving the feel of him pressed against her, the way his fingers ran through her hair, while the other hand still cupped her face. She tried to figure out what made Aang's kisses so great, how they made her head spin and knees weak. But suddenly, she didn't care. All she wanted was Aang.

And all Aang wanted to do was make Katara happy. He pressed his lips on hers with just the right amount of force, loving how they tasted. Like sweet leechy nuts and wild panda lily berries. No, even better. Something more wonderful and delightful than anything else in the world; and he would fight Ozai ten more times if it meant he could have it. If he could have Katara.

Losing himself for a minute, he pressed harder against her, putting both of his hands on her shoulders and pushing her against one of the walls. Katara pulled her head away, surprised. "Aang!" she gasped.

Embarrassed, and turning red, he dropped his hands and took a step away from her. "Katara, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-I wasn't-I mean, I-"

Katara grabbed his biceps and yanked him back to her and held his face so close to hers that they were nose to nose. "Don't you ever leave me again," she whispered.

"Never," he gasped, his cheeks still red. Smirking, she put her lips back on his, and he responded by pressed her up against the wall, his hands on her hips. Honestly, she had been a little surprised at how aggressive he had been, but Katara didn't mind. The wall she was being smushed against didn't hurt, though it should have, and all she was conscious of was Aang.

Finally, they pulled apart, both breathing heavily. "Let's try...and...find an...inn, shall we?" Katara panted, slipping away from Aang, and she began to dust off her dress and smooth out the wrinkles from their make out session, then she continued to stroll down the alleyway as if nothing had happened.

Aang stared after her, confused, then shook his head and smiled and jogged after her.

"Two rooms, please," Aang requested as they checked into the Slinky Serpent Inn.

An old woman with giant spectacles and long white hair behind the desk looked into the sign-in book, then croaked, "Sorry, sonny, but we only have one room left tonight."

Aang turned to Katara, who was busy admiring the furniture. "Do you think Sokka would kill me if we slept in the same bed, together?" he asked.

"He'd probably kill you if we were in the same room," she replied, setting down a plate with a painting of a handsome man and a beautiful woman on the top.

Aang sighed, then turned back to the old woman. "Then can we have the last one?"

"Of course," she said, handing him a large brass key with the number 38 engraved on the front.

"You know, those are really pretty. Do you think we should one of those?" Katara asked as Aang strode back to her. He turned to look at the plate of the couple.

"Yeah, that would be really cool if we could get one of these," he agreed, then turned to the woman behind the counter. "Excuse, but do you know where you can find a painter who can do one of these?" He waved the plate.

"Oh, yes. Go down to the next village to the east, not to far from here, and ask for Painter Buddimashi."

"Thanks!" Aang called as he set down the plate, and they began to walked up the green carpeted, gold-railed stairs.

For a while, they didn't say anything. Katara was too busy thinking about their make out session in the alleyway. Aang was too busy worrying that Sokka would beat him up if he found out Aang and Katara were in the same bed together. But going up three floors, Katara started to ask a question that had been nagging at her ever since the Day of Black Sun. "Aang, where did you learn to kiss?"

He turned to look at her, surprised. "What?"

"Well, I mean, you're such a greater kisser, but you used to be a monk and you don't go around kissing any girls to practice on." She glanced at him. "Do you?"

Aang laughed. "Of course I have been, Katara! Haven't you seen them chasing me wherever I go?"

"Oh yeah? Like who?" she challenged, playing along.

"Well, Meng and Ty Lee, for starters," he said, counting on his fingers. "And On Ji wasn't bad either," he teased.

"Oh shut up!" she cried, jumping on him.

Hey!" he protested as she climbed on his back and clinched him in a headlock. "Let go!"

"Make me!"

As a reply, he bent his knees, inhaling deeply, then-smashing his fist into his palm-breathed out, airbending the area around him, making Katara fly off. He stood up straight and dusted his clothes out before holding his arms out and letting Katara fall back into them.

"Oof!" she gasped as he caught her in his arms.

"Have you learned your lesson?" he asked.

She pretended to consider it, then replied, "That I'm not supposed to jump you, but I do enjoy you carrying me."

Aang rolled his eyes, but laughed with her and carried her up to their floor. He continued to hold her until he reached the end of the hallway. "Sorry ma'am, but the ride ends here," he said in a deep and gravelly voice.

"Oh darn it," Katara sighed as she swung herself off of Aang. "And I was really starting to enjoy you holding me."

"Well, we have plenty of time for that," he reminded her, wrapping one arm around her waist while using the other to unlock the door. They walked inside, still connected, and Katara closed the door. "And I would never dream of letting you go," he said seriously, turning her around to look into her eyes. She stared into his eyes, marvelling at the way they changed colors. Right now, they were blue, which was when he was emotional.

Katara felt her heart swell up with indescribable feelings as she looked at the boy who had came far from wanting to ride penguins and elephant koi fish. Lines had creased into his face, making him seem older than fourteen. And he had grown a lot so that he was as tall as her, or maybe taller, she couldn't tell. He wasn't just someone she wanted to protect, now. He was hers. She smiled, caressing his face, as she realized it.

Now it was his turn to ask the question. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Come on, let's get to bed."

The room was very pleasant, with a large four-post bed big enough for at least three people with silk covers and sheets next to large window. There was a nightstand on either side, with a kerosene lamp on each one. There was a door that led to the bathroom, across the floor laid a rug of silk. There was also a table made of fine wood with two bottles of sweet buzzard-wasp nectar, along with two glasses.

Aang spotted the nectar, then asked, "Can we at least have some of the -"

She turned to look at the table, thne almost laughed, remembering Aang's weakness for nectar. "Sure, Aang. But just one glass," she said sternly, pointing at him. "We don't want you to sleep for another hundred years."

He went over to the nectar and poured some into one glass and handed it to Katara, then poured one for himself.

"To us, since nothing else seems to be going right around here!" he declared, holding up his glass.

Katara laughed, and clinked her own against his. Then they both began to drink it. Aang could almost feel the nectar soothing him, making him feel slightly drowsy. "Aahh," he sighed, after he downed the whole cup, and set it on the table. "That hit the spot." Katara giggled again before taking another sip. He grinned at her, then reached out one hand to cup one side of her face. She laid her head upon his palm, smiling back.

"You know, even if I did kiss every single one of those girls, it wouldn't matter," he said. "They've got nothing on you, Katara."

She blushed. "You're just saying that."

"No, I'm not!" he said earnestly, taking her glass and setting it on the table before grabbing both of her hands. "I think you're smart and beautiful and talented and the best waterbender in the world!"

"Besides you, of course," she laughed as they wrapped their arms around each other. "I might have been your teacher, but you're still the most powerful bender in the world."

"I try." She giggled again, then closed her eyes and gently kissed him on the lips.

Aang savored every second of their mouths touching, and was sorry when her lips left his, though he could still feel them on his. "Where do you think you're going?" he murmured before catching her mouth with his. She moaned softly, her tongue flicking at his entrance, asking to come in. He opened his mouth and their tongues danced, mating with each other, tasting their saliva and loving it.

Still kissing, Katara reached down and tugged at the bottom of his tunic. Startled, he jerked his head back, breaking the kiss. "Well, you're not gonna sleep in it, are you?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips. He shrugged, though he was actually planning to. She sighed and grabbed the hem of it and pulled it off, showing off his muscular abs. Though she could see half of it most of the time, she always liked seeing how Aang had came out, feeling his hard muscles beneath her fingers.

Aang frowned. "And are you going to wear that dress to sleep?" he retorted. She opened her mouth to reply, but he had already grabbed the bottom of her dress and yanked it off.

She squealed and covered herself, though she had her chest and bottom bindings on. "Hey!"

"Well are you?"

"Then you should at least take off your pants!" she shot back, and before he could stop her, she had crouched down and ripped them down, leaving him in his underwear. "There!" she said with satisfaction as she stood back up.

For a moment, they glared at each other in their underwear, then, for no apparent reason at all, they both burst out laughing.

"Come on, we-we need t-to go to bed." Aang stepped towards the bed, when Katara grabbed his arm, a mischievous look on her face.

"No, I think YOU need to go to bed," she purred, laying both hands on his chest. Unaware of what she was planning, he placed his hands over hers. Smirking, she pushed him down on to the bed and climbed on to chest, straddling him. Surprised, he struggled against her until she gently kissed him on the lips. "Don't worry," she whispered. "Relax." He did as she asked, breathing heavily she led a trail of soft kisses around his face and down his throat, but not daring to move.

"You're being a very good boy," she whispered in his ear, tracing the outline of his muscles lightly with one finger. "And if you're being a good boy, what am I being?" He looked up into her seductive blue eyes, and wondered if there was a right answer, because it was clear she wanted one.

He swallowed. "You're being a very na-na-naughty girl," he stammered.

Katara chuckled before pecking his nose with her lips. "And? I thought you liked your girls to be naughty," she murmured, her finger now running up and down his throat.

"They can be naughty or nerdy or stuffy," he said breathlessly. "I don't care, as long as she's you."

For a second, Katara almost blushed, dropping out of her seductive state, Aang could be so sweet and flattering without even trying. As a reward, she lowered her head, closed her eyes, and kissed him sweetly on the lips. Aang rose his arms and cupped her face in both hands as they pressed their lips together. Katara groaned as Aang toyed with her hair, tugging on it, making the kissing feel more intense somehow. She pulled her head back. "That's not fair," she gasped.

He untangled his fingers from her hair and propped himself up on his elbows, confused. "What?"

"Don't tease me like that," she growled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Katara. I didn't mean to."

Katara looked at him and almost laughed. His facial expression was completely honest, though she could see the wanting and desire beneath the surface. Smiling, she started kissing him again. Aang's head swum as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that Katara was kissing him, straddling him to the bed, that she wanted him. Dizzy, he closed his eyes and let himself melt into her. There was nothing better than this. And he doubted anything in the world could make him stop except-

Sokka burst through the door.

An over-protective, angry older brother.

"AAANNNGGG!" Sokka roared. He gulped.

Katara, trying to play it cool, said cheerfully, "Hey, Sokka!"

He glared at the two. "Get off of her, NOW!"

Technically, he was underneath her, but Aang airbended himself from under her and jumped away on to the other side of the room. She squealed as fell down on the bed.

Sokka strode up to Aang, who had his hands up defensively, pointing an accusing finger. "I've been tolerant of you two and your little nicknames and your little kissing sessions, but if you even try and touch Katara-!"

"Sokka, leave him alone!" Katara shouted. "I made him do it!"

He turned to her, a look of rage plain on his face. "Yeah? Well, then who's bright idea was it for you two to share a room?"

"There was no more left!" she cried.

"So? You could of gone to another inn!" Sokka yelled.

"We were already-" Aang tried to say, but Sokka interrupted him.

"Don't you even TRY and make excuses for yourself!" Sokka growled. "You just stay away from my sister. Come on, Katara! We're leaving!

"No, I'm not!" she cried. "Aang is going to need as much help as he can get to stop King Kuei from attacking the Fire Nation!"

Sokka brought his rage up short. "What?"

"King Kuei is planning to go to war against the Fire Nation because Zuko's rethinking the whole Harmony Restoration Movement thing," she explained.

He glared at her, then Aang, then sighed and sat down on one of the chairs. "Start from the beginning," he ordered.

After putting back on their clothes, they filled Sokka in on what happened. "And King Kuei, he's just going to declare war?" Sokka asked.

"Yes, but we're going to stop him tomorrow before he can do any damage," Aang answered.

"Does Zuko know?"

Katara and Aang glanced at each other. "Wait, you haven't told Zuko yet?"

"No," Katara said slowly. "It's just that...we think he already knows. I think he put some spies in the Earth Kingdom, as if he was...expecting this."

"So you're telling me that Zuko knew that King Kuei was going to declare war when he found out that Zuko was backing out on his part in the Harmony Restoration Movement?" Sokka said, struggling to keep up.

"Yeah, I guess so."

He groaned. "This is bad. Really bad. The Hundred Year War ended only last year. Why would King Kuei throw the Earth Kingdom in another war just when it's beginning to heal?"

"Because he isn't thinking about the well-fare of his country," Aang growled. "He's only thinking about himself, how he doesn't want to look like a fool in front of the other nations."

Sokka sighed, standing up. "Alright. I'll go tell Toph. We're staying at the Hill House Inn down the road." He turned to the door, then glared at Aang from over his shoulder. "But you better not do anything to my sister. You got it?"

"Can you just go?" Katara snapped.

"Fine," he shrugged, opening the door. "But I'm watching you," he warned as he walked through the door. Aang pushed the door close with a burst of airbending from his palm. Then he turned to Katara and rolled his eyes.

"Really, it's like I'll try anything now. I mean, we all practically lived on Appa for a year, and I didn't do anything then," he pointed out as he pulled his tunic back off.

"Yeah, but we weren't together," she reminded him as she shed her dress and laid it on the nightstand, then yawned.

"Sounds like someone's a bit tired," he remarked, swooping her up into his arms. She didn't bother to protest; instead, she just snuggled up against his chest. He smiled and kissed her on the forehead before carrying her over to the bed. Readjusting his hold on her, he freed one arm and pulled the curtains open and laid her down on the bedspread. She quickly slipped under the covers and laid her head on the pillow.

"Hurry up and come to bed," she yawned.

"I am, I am." He got in the bed next to her and gently put his lips to her nose. "Good night, Katara."

"'Night, Aang," she murmured before falling asleep. He watched her for a few seconds. She laid her cheek on her hand, her hair fanning out behind her. Her face was relaxed, the lines Aang usually saw on her face erased in her sleep. A strand of hair that was in her face fluttered with every soft breath. He carefully put back in her mane of hair without waking her. She looked beautiful even asleep.

And she was his.

Feeling elated, he grabbed the kerosene lamp that was lit and gently blew it out before laying his head on the pillow facing Katara and falling asleep.

Aang stood in front of the Earth King's palace in, holding his staff upright. After yesterday, Aang was pretty sure that after King Kuei had kicked them out, they weren't allowed to come back in the palace for a while.

Katara peered at him. "You ready, Aang?"

He inhaled deeply, then nodded. He twirled his staff, bringing out his glider. "Hold on!" he warned as he positioned himself. She grabbed the top part of his glider with both hands and clutched the wood as Aang leaped up into the sky, then swerved and flew above the guards who were protecting the front, who didn't see them soaring above. He gently guided them down the hall, dipping slightly before each turn to make sure that there weren't any guards. Aang felt a slight feeling of déjà vu, at how empty the palace was.

"Where is everybody?" Katara asked, remembering how they had to fight their way through to see the Earth King the first time they went to see him.

"I don't know." He frowned as they glided towards the floor in front of the two huge shiny doors. Katara jumped off while Aang airbended his glider away.

She walked up to the door and pushed it. It swung open easily, revealing an empty throne room. Not even Basco was there.

Aang's staff cluttered as it hit the polished marble floor. "They left for the war already," he whispered.

"Oh no," Katara gasped.

He picked up his staff and turned to her, a look of despair clearly written on his face. "What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know. But we have to tell Sokka and Toph." She grabbed his hand and began to run out of the palace.

"Excuse us!" Aang yelled as they pushed past the guards.

"Hey, wait!" one of the guards called out.

"Sorry, no time!" Katara shouted over her shoulder. Suddenly, she slammed into another person. Rubbing her head, she said angrily, "Hey, can you watch where you're-"

"No," came a sour voice. Katara looked and saw Toph and Sokka.

"Toph!" she exclaimed.

"Nice to see you, too," she grumbled, gingerly poking at her arm.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"We just came back from the palace and the Earth King has already gone," Aang told them.

Sokka groaned. "Aww man! Just when we had world peace and harmony!"

"They can't have left too long ago," Toph put in. "We can still catch them if we get Appa."

To everybody's surprise, Aang shook his head. "We shouldn't go after him."

"Uh, did I just hear you correctly, Twinkletoes? Did you just say for us not to go after King Kuei?" Toph demanded.

"We can't just come after Kuei and Zuko's still preparing for battle," he explained. "Even if we send a message, it'll be too late and he'll come to the earth kingdom and start the war! We need them both present so that they can hear each other out."

"Where are we going to find a place like that?" Toph asked.

"I don't know," Aang admitted. "But we better find one quick."

"I still have my atlas," Sokka offered. "We can use it to find a rendezvous point for both. But it's on Kyoshi Island."

"Call Appa and we can discuss this on our way to Kyoshi," Katara said.

"Way ahead of you." He pulled out the bison whistle and blew it.

Appa appeared almost immediately, roaring as he smoothly landed on the ground next to them.

Aang airbended himself into the saddle, and helped Katara up. Toph and Sokka climbed onto Appa's back. "Appa, yip yip!" Aang called as he jumped on to Appa's head and snapped the reins.

"So we need someplace that's between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nations," Sokka said as they soared into the sky. "If I remember correctly, there's a series of islands in the middle of the ocean just between there."

"But we need the one where they can run into each other accidentally," Katara put in.

"But what are the chances of them running into each other at the same time on the same island?" Toph asked.

"That's why we're going to write to both Zuko and the earth king a letter saying for them to meet up with us at the same island as the other," Aang said.

Everybody stared at Aang. Even Momo, who was busy raiding the contents of Sokka's bag, poked his head out and stared at the Avatar.

"Aang," Sokka finally said, "you can't be serious."

"I am serious," Aang replied. "We'll write to the earth king, saying that we see what he's talking about and we'll join his army at one of the islands, and we'll write another letter to Zuko, saying that we're on his side and for him to meet us at the same island."

Toph shook her head. "Twinkletoes, I never thought I would see the day you crossed over to the dark side."

"Avatar Yangchen told me that the Avatar's soul duty is to the earth, and that I would have to do whatever it would take to save the world. And if it means lying, then I have to."

"But it's wrong!" Sokka protested.

Aang gritted his teeth. They didn't understand. They didn't understand that being the Avatar meant doing the previously unthinkable. Aang felt a little sick at the thought himself, but he knew he had to put aside his own squeamishness at lying to his best friend and a man who was supposed to trust him.

Katara, who hadn't said anything, looked at Aang. His jaw was clenched, as were his hands around Appa's reins. His eyes were closed, but she saw how tense and unhappy he was with the plan, as well. Why did he have to have so much pressure on his back? she wondered. He didn't like this anymore than they did, that was plain enough. And nobody seemed to get why he had to this.

"Aang's right," she announced, to everyone's surprise.

"What?" Sokka exclaimed. Aang turned his head around, his grey eyes wide with surprise.

"Well, the Avatar's duty is to keep peace and harmony between the nations," she explained. "War is bloody and deadly, not to mention that this one is completely unnecessary. Aang's plan could save lives. Or would you rather we lose Zuko and the Earth King in another hundred years of war?" she added.

Sokka scowled. "Well, when you put it that way," Toph said thoughtfully.

Aang blinked. Then a small smile appeared on his face. "Thanks, Katara. For understanding," he said warmly.

She blushed, getting on her elbows at the edge of the saddle in front Aang so that they were nose-to-nose. "It really isn't the hard," she said honestly.

He leaned in closer. "But it means a lot from you," he whispered softly and gently kissed her. She closed her eyes, feeling her eyelashes brush against his.

"Hey! Hey!" Sokka yelled, making them break apart. "I don't want to see a replay of last night!" Katara rolled her eyes.

"That was the first time we went that far!" Aang protested. "And we would never do that on Appa!"

"Yet," Katara muttered under her breath.

"Do what?" Toph asked, all-too-interested.

"Nothing, Toph," Katara said quickly, blushing bright red.

She raised an eyebrow, then narrowed her sightless eyes. Katara prayed to the spirits that she couldn't feel her heart quicken. "Hmm," was all she said.

"Let's just get to Kyoshi," Aang put in hastily, snapping Appa's reins to make him go faster. Appa rumbled and beat his huge tail.

Toph snickered, and, for a split second, Katara had an urge to use the water whip on her.

"Finally!" Sokka exclaimed as Appa slid to the ground, and slid off of his back by his tail.

For once, no crowd greeted the avatar and his friends, but Aang didn't really care. They couldn't be slowed down by the Kyoshi fans.

Aang jumped off of Appa and turned to Sokka. "Where's the atlas?" he asked.

"This way. Follow me!" Sokka waved his arm and began to run off towards the woods.

"Shouldn't we be avoiding strange woods?" Toph called as she ran after him. Katara and Aang glanced at each other before following.

After they entered the woods, Aang asked, "So why are we going into the woods?"

"Suki and I moved into a cabin up here," he explained as he made a left turn. "And I decided to move all of my stuff into our place. It's got some couches and a table and a few paintings-" he started saying, counting off on his fingers.

"Focus, Sokka!" Katara called.

"Huh? Oh, right! This way!"

They followed Sokka through the maze of trees. Katara glanced up at them while running, and shuddered. She didn't know what it was, but there was something about the trees that seemed ominous somehow, almost like the swamp, but just...darker. It never had been like this before. The trees had always looked so friendly and open, but now it seemed like over a dozen had popped up, and the shade that the trees' foliage made and the gnarled wood just seemed...bad.

After making their way through the forest, and all four kids were exhausted, Sokka finally declared, "There it is!" Katara slid to a stop in the loose, shifty leaf liter and peered through the trees. Sure enough, there was a small cabin about the size of the hub of ice that Sokka and Katara used to live in back at the South Pole in a clearing directly in a patch of sunlight. It looked a lot cozier, though.

It was a straw house, with carefully flattened boards of wood- Katara could see the cut down trees nearby -to make up to the roof. There were two windows, one on each side of the door, with was also wooden.

Sokka ran up to the door and pushed it open. The rest followed him in warily. "Ah, home sweet home," Sokka sighed, collapsing on the couch.

"Sokka! The atlas!" Toph reminded.

"Oh yeah! Wait here!" He jumped up and disappeared behind a door, which Aang assumed to be his room. Aang could hear the sound of things clattering and falling as Sokka searched.

"Aang?" He turned around to look at Katara, who was staring at the ceiling, her arms crossed, and biting her lip.

Uh oh. Something was wrong.

He took a step towards her. "What's wrong, Katara?" He gently put his hands on her wrists.

She tore her gaze away from the ceiling and looked him in the eye, her sparkling blue irises almost making his breathe catch in his throat. "There's something wrong with these woods," she whispered so that Toph couldn't hear. "I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, it feels...dark. Unnatural."

"And have you guys noticed that there's a bunch more trees around here?" Toph asked, breaking into the conversation. "Trees can't grow that fast, can they? And I haven't felt the vibration of a single villager."

Aang glanced at the two of them. To be honest, he didn't notice at all that there were no villagers to be found or the case about the trees. He had been too concentrated on getting the atlas. But as he looked at Toph, her sightless eyes staring back, and felt the goosebumps on Katara's arms that weren't from cold, he realized that there was indeed something wrong here.

"Found it!" Sokka hollered, making Aang jump away from Katara. She glared at him. He mouthed sorry. Sokka, oblivious to their moment, waved the scroll in his hand. "Now we just need to find the island!" Sokka exclaimed, opening it up and laying it out on the glass table. Aang leaned over and red the map while Sokka chatted on. "Now, there's ten islands between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. There's two directly in the middle, not too far apart. There's Curly-Tailed Blue-nose Island and then there's Forest Grump Shores. Both are less than a mile apart from each other."

"Then why don't we send one of the kings to each island?" Aang suggested. "Then when they see each other at the other island, they'll come in to attack, then can rise out of the water in the Avatar State and force them to see reason."

Toph shook her head. "You are just full of surprises today, Aang."

"I have to do whatever it takes to stop another war," he said firmly, rolling up the scroll and tucking it into his tunic. Suddenly, a hawk flew through the window.

"Hawky!" Sokka exclaimed as it landed on his shoulder. "Where have you been?"

"No time, Sokka, we need to write a letter to the Earth king and Zuko," Katara snapped as she slammed a calligraphy set she had found in the bookcase on the table. She pulled out her brush, prepared the paper, and began to use soft, gentle, yet quick strokes as she wrote out the letter. Aang noticed how her face was narrowed in concentration, in contradiction to her eyes, which were wide and big and pretty and such an oceanic blue-

"Ahem," Sokka fake-coughed. Aang blinked, freed from the depths of Katara's eyes. he looked up to see Sokka glaring at him. He ginned at back, but this only seemed to infuriate him more.

"Done!" Katara suddenly announced, rolling up the two separate pieces of parchment and dropping them in to Hawky's pouch on his back. "Make sure that King Keiu and Prince Zuko get the right one," she instructed firmly. It nodded and flew back outside.

"Aw, Katara! I was going to write a letter to Suki!" Sokka whined.

Katara whirled around to face him, about to retort, when Toph gasped. "Guys, there's something coming towards us!"

Sokka hurried over to window and peered through the trees. "No, nothing out there," he reported, and stuck his head back inside. "You might need to have your feet checked," he remarked.

"No, its coming! It's in the grass!" she insisted. "And-" She never got to finish her sentence. Suddenly, Aang heard her scream and there was a flash of green, and then she was gone, the door still swing open.

Katara shrieked, backing away from the door. "Something just grabbed her!"

"What? Katara what did you see?" Sokka demanded.

She opened her mouth to reply when she shriek again and fell to the ground. Aang saw a green vine curled around her legs and it began to drag her out at amazing speed. "Help!" she cried as she slid out of the hut.

"No!" Sokka screamed. the two ran after her. She desperately tried to cling to the leaves and roots, but they all came away at her fingertips.

"Aang! Sokka!" she screamed.

Aang looked up from Katara for a split second, then froze. The vine that was dragging her along came from the trunk of a humongous tree with a huge hole at the bottom. Big enough to swallow a fifteen-year-old girl. Suddenly, Aang felt a sudden rush of desperation and determination. "NO!" He dove over thirty yards at her hands, and locked his fingers with hers. Struggling to get back up from the pull of the vine, he managed to get back on his feet and began to pull Katara back. Without a warning, another vine shot out of the tree and grabbed Sokka around the waist. He yelled as it yanked him inside, flailing his legs and arms before disappearing into the darkness.

"Sokka!" Katara cried.

Aang gritted his teeth, trying to think of a way out of the situation. Then an idea popped into his head. he turned to Katara, who was struggling not to let her fingers slip from his. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

She opened her mouth, about to say that now wasn't the time for romantic good-byes when she saw the look in his eyes. So instead, she simply replied, "Yes."

"Then be ready!" he said, and let go.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry about the cliffhanger on the last chapter! But the story must go on!

This one is more of a battle scene if anything. Sorry!

I own nothing!

* * *

Aang let go of Katara for a split second, then quickly drew his hands back to his waist, waterbending, sucking the water out of the vine that had her caught. It dried up like a prune almost immediately as the water that was its life force floated above it in a ball, and cracked and withered before his eyes. Katara gasped as she fell on to the ground, knocking the wind out of her.

She groaned as she clutched her stomach, rolling over. "Katara! Look out!' Aang cried. She lifted her head to see another vine shooting straight towards her. She didn't think she had enough time to reach her water pouch, and instead struggled to get up when a water whip snapped itself in front of the vine just before it reached her. She turned her head to see Aang bending it, his face narrowed with concentration.

The vine jerked back and for a second it seemed to hiss. The whip slashed at it, slicing off about two feet. The severed piece flailed and wriggled on the ground near Katara's foot. With a shriek, she brought her foot down on it as hard as she could. It splattered under her shoe, making a squishing noise.

Meanwhile, Aang was busy fighting the remainder of the vine, which he was steadily slicing up. However, it continued to shoot out relentlessly, attacking with a lot of aggression. He grunted as it raked his arm, leaving a long, though-thankfully-shallow wound. As he stopped her assess the damage, the vine reared back, then dove for him again. He gasped, his gray eyes wide, and threw with one arm a waterbending slice right down the middle. It fell at his feet, a half on each side of his foot.

Breathing heavily, he stumbled over to Katara. "Are you okay?" he asked in a concerned voice as he gently lifted her up by the armpits.

"I've had worse," she winced, gingerly feeling her stomach, then something flashed behind Aang, ctching her eyes. She brushed her hair out of her face and squinted, then gasped. "Aang, duck!"

Trusting her, he hit the ground. Katara slid out her water and put up a wall of ice justas a bunch of vines darted at them. She melted the parts that the vines had smacked into and waterbended them to grab them and freeze it to the ice. They reared up, jerking the ice up and down. They shook their bodies, trying to rid themselves of the ice.

Katara took a deep breathe and, with all her might, shoved the ice as far back as she could. It flew backwards until it slammed into a tree, breaking the ice. The vines slumped to the ground. Katara relaxed for a moment, then she heard a whistling sound. Suddenly, two earth sides popped up next to her and Aang, who was in an earthbending stance. She felt something slam against the sides a second later, making the ground shake and teeth rattle. "What was that?" she shouted.

He pointed up at the trees. "Look!" She looked to where he was pointing and at first couldn't see anything except for the swinging tree branches. Then as she realized that one of the trees were swinging right towards them! She quickly waterbended out the water from it before it could smash them flat and it deflated and fell off the tree. She quickly jumped out the way of the falling branch. "Quick thinking!" Aang complimented as he broke the walls into medium-sized boulders.

"Thanks." She bent the water that she had gotten from the tree into water tentacles on her arms, her eyes watching for any sign of attack. Almost subconsciously, they moved closer together until they were back to back. "Wait a second," she cautioned, waiting for any sign of attack, her eyes darting from side to side.

"Do we have a second?"

She was about to reply when she saw a clubbed tree branch swing towards them. "Now!" she cried. She rolled to the side not a second too late, because Aang had just put up another wall where had been. The wall crumbled when it came into contact with the branch, but it was still affective. The club swayed form side to side, as if it was dazed from the blow. Katara took advantage of its moment of weakness and shot a tentacle at it and wrapped it around the bark. With a flick of the wrist, she snapped off the branch.

"Katara, behind you!" Aang called as he shot a rock at another club. She swung it around as if it was a bat, and the two collided. The force was so powerful that the enemy branch broke off and flew off and landed in the bushes. Suddenly, a jet of fire appeared over her head. She looked turned her head to see Aang roasting vines that had been about to attack her.

"Uh, a little help!" he called, jumping up into the air as another club swung at him. She brought up her own and brought it down on top of it, pinning it to the ground. She drew away the water and sliced it through several vines that had shot towards her. Without a warning, she felt something wrap around her hair bun on top of her head. She yelped as it yanked her off of her feet and zoomed back to the tree. Quickly thinking, she froze one arm and cut through the vine and through her hair ribbon. Her hair, now free, flew up, and her water arms fell off. Terror shot through her as she felt herself began to fall towards the ground.

Aang turned around after setting one entire tree on fire, then gasped to see Katara falling from the treetops. _Oh no!_ "Katara!" he gasped. As he airbended himself into the air to help her, a vine darted at him. Without thinking, he grabbed it and swung towards her. Narrowing his eyes, he gritted his teeth, trying to keep the writhing vine under control, and stuck out one arm. Aang braced himself, then caught her by the waist. For a second, he was worried that he might of accidentally hurt her. He felt a rush of relief as she straightened up and leaned into him.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly, looking up into his eyes, hers all wide and blue and sparkly.

"It was nothing." He felt his cheeks beginning to redden. Then his face hardened when he saw another tree limb fling itself at them. "Katara, hold on to the vine!" he said, trying to swing out the way. Almost immediately she saw what he was trying to do. She freed the arm that was pinned between her and his arm and grabbed the green rope, then used her other hand to readjust her grip on Aang, grabbing his tunic's clasp. He let her go and dangled in front of her, and a huge burst of flames erupted form his palm as the tree limb was about to smash into them, then shot a burst of air to blow back the branch with the other hand. It crashed into its own tree, and the whole thing went up in flames.

"Hold on!" Katara cried as she let go of the vine, which had also caught on fire. For a few moments they free-fell. Then Aang swung Katara into his arms and blew out a large gust of air that made them land into a bush.

"Ow," Katara groaned as she felt the branches of the bush dig into her back.

"You too?" he asked, sitting up. Suddenly, a tree limb came and knocked him away, smacking him into a tree.

"Aang!" she yelled, jumping to her feet.

He appeared to have been completely flattened; his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell off the tree and on to the ground. The tree that Aang had been knocked into rose a rather large clubbed limb above his body.

_NO! _

Katara rushed over to Aang's body, standing protectively over it. The tree brought down the club, and she remembered one of the few useful things that Hamma the bloodbender had taught her. She put her hands up and began to bend the water inside instead of just drawing out the water: she stopped it dead in its tracks a few yards away from her head. The tree tried to resist, pressing back down on her. She took a deep breathe and began to push the tree up. It was as heavy as pushing up four baskets of leechy nuts. _But if you don't Aang will die, _she reminded herself. The thought made her bend her knees, then propel all our her energy into the limb and it shot up and broke off of the tree and disappeared into the sky.

Aang groaned from under her. She got on her knees and gently began to shake him. "Aang? Aang, sweetie, wake up!" she whispered urgently. _Come on, come on, you're okay._

He opened his eyes and she thought she had never been so happy to see his gray, wide eyes looking at her. "Ow," he whispered. She let out a breath of relief. Suddenly, a vine wrapped around her middle. Aang sat up straight and reached for her, but before he could do anything, it snatched her away. She cried out as it dragged her along the ground as more vines wound themselves around her waist and arms, bounding her so she couldn't bend.

Aang scrambled to his feet and ran after her. _Not again!_

Then several vines burst out the ground and tightly wrapped themselves around his ankles, wrists, thighs, forearm, waist, chest, and neck. Gasping and choking, he succumbed easily and was brought down to his knees! "Katara!" his voice rasped with pure terror as he watched her helplessly be dragged into the tree. But she wasn't. Instead it lifted her up, taking towards the foliage of the forest, her flailing her legs and shaking her head, trying to get free. "Katara!" Aang shouted again, straining against his bounds.

_It would be a shame to let such a beautiful creature go to waste, _a voice said in Aang's head that wasn't his. He froze, stopping his struggling. _Yes, I see I have your attention now, _it continued. _Stop your foolish struggling, boy and listen. Yes, now, she is very beautiful, is she not? Would be a shame to kill such a delicate flower._

Katara had stopped struggling, and turned at Aang with a look of pure terror. "Aang," she choked, "who is that?"

"I don't know," he said, glancing around, looking around for another body, but of course he saw none.

_You do not know me? Well, then...I go by many names, like many of us spirits-_

"You're a spirit?" Aang asked in disbelief. But just when he said that, he felt something cold and dark pass over his face, like a shadow. H shivered.

_Yes, young Avatar. My name is Hyshi Hyndou, He Who Is Dark. You see, when I was mortal, I had a liking for dark places. Especially after the love of my life, Bei Pan*, who looked a lot like your lover her, left me for the handsome young man she met down at the docks. And I really did start to like them when I strangled her with a tree vine her in a dark alleyway. I remember how she choked and pleaded for her life, how when her life force eeked out, staining my hands and the vine. _

Aang gasped, unable to believe what he was hearing. Then he blinked, making sure that he wasn't seeing things. But he wasn't: he saw the outline of a man, leaning against the base of the tree. As he stared harder at the outline, he started to come into focus, like one of Sokka's weird lenses when he was playing detective. He was tall, about the size of Piando, with long, dark, wavy hair that fell to his shoulders. It covered up most of his face except for his nose, which turned upward with a cruel slant, and his eyes, which seemed to gleam out past his hair. He had his arms and legs cross as he leaned against the tree, wearing a long dark robe that seemed to spread out around him, and was a shade of grey that almost made it seem that it was part the shadows.

_As the blood continued to run down my hands, the spirits cursed me to become with the shadows. I bonded closely with the ones of trees and buildings, for theirs happened to be the biggest. I also happen to bond with the darkness of the heart. We all know you have darkness in you, Aang._ The man stood up and started to walk towards him, though it was more like gliding, the way the ground moved from under his feet. _And how I would love to feed on it._

"No," Aang choked, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't bend or run away. He couldn't summon the Avatar State, the darkness was suppressing him too much. Hyshi Hyndou stopped right in front of him, and Aang shivered again, though this time it was more from the dark presence.

_How I would love to feed on that darkness. Being the Avatar must put so much darkness on that precious soul of yours, _he hissed, leaning down until they were nose to nose. _To drink it all and leave so much more than I took on you, so that it would be all that's left in you. Let's just see..._ Hyshi pushed back his long hair, and Aang screamed. His face was all rotten, eaten away at like a four month-old carcass. His eyes were two silvery balls with stitches on each side of his eyelids. His mouth was lip-less and wide open, but there was nothing in it. Just a black, empty hole with bloody strands and pieces of skin hanging from the top.

Aang screamed again as he edged towards him.

"Leave him alone!" Hyshi whirled around, snarling, to look at Katara, who had shouted. Aang could see her shiver as she saw his face, but stared at him defiantly. "Leave Aang alone!" she yelled.

He glared at her, his silver eyes, blackening, then they lightened again as he laughed. _You're right. I should leave him alone. I want to see him suffer just as I did before I fill him up with darkness. _

Before he realized what Hyshi was going to do, it was too late. The spirit glided up to her, and stopped in front of her and laughed. _You are a brave little lass, aren't you? _He floated closer to her, and Aang could see her eyes widen in horror as she saw his face up close. _Brave, smart, and pretty. I can see why you love her. But there's darkness in her soul, too. And all that you love about her will be gone. _

"No," Aang whispered, then yelled, "No!" He pushed against his bonds, trying to at least free his hands. Katara's light couldn't be stolen, never! And especially not while he just stood by and watched.

Hyshi lifted his head and called a chilling wail that made the tiny, almost nonexistent hair on the back of neck raise up.

Then he saw long whispers of shadows eek out of the roots of the tree. They crawled up the trunk of the tree, down a branch, slithered between the vines that held Katara, and began to slip and slide over her body, lingering on her chest and backside. She noticeably shuddered as they felt her, then cried out as a few slipped underneath her dress.

"No! Please no! Leave her alone!" Aang begged.

Hyshi laughed. _You'd rather her soul be taken now than letting her be touched by me? _Hyshi laughed again. _Your loss. _His mouth widened, if that was even possible, and he leaned in towards her. Katara struggled against the vines, trying to get away from him. He grabbed her face with both hands, which felt like decomposed seal skin, forcing her to stare down his bottomless mouth. She could see darkness pooling in the back of his throat. She gasped as it began to pile up and spill out. She never thought she felt so cold and scared in her life, not even the time when she thought Aang was going to die. And now she knew that she was.

The blackness began to swirl and cloud up around her body. Aang felt his heart stop as he heard her scream in obvious pain as the cloud covered her head.

"NO! KATARA!" he bellowed, straining even harder against the vines, but they were relentless. He watched helplessly as they engulfed her entirely, so that he couldn't see her anymore. Suddenly, there a bright, blinding light, forcing him to look away. _What happened? Did the other avatars come to help? _He forced himself to turn and look, blinking in the bright light. He squinted through the haze and gasped. Katara was the source of it, looking almost exactly like how he did when he went into the Avatar State, her head thrown back and eyes and mouth glowing, pouring out light, except she glowed a color similar to the sun's shine. It filled up the entire forest. Aang couldn't see a crook or cranny to find a shadow. Suddenly, some of the trees began to fade away into the glow, letting the sun shine through the trees.

Hyshi screamed, throwing up his arms as if to block himself from her radiance, though he was already burning away. "NO! ONLY THE SOUL PURE OF LIGHT CAN DO THIS!" he screamed.

"Then you don't know Katara!" Aang shouted defiantly.

He turned to Aang, his face twisted in a snarl. "You will pay for this! You will see! One day she will leave you like Bei Pan left me! There is no such thing as true love! Let darkness taint your relationship!" Aang felt a shudder as he spoke the words. Hyshi screamed again just as the last of his face burned away. For a few seconds, his scream still hung in the air. Then that faded away too. And so did the light that poured from Katara. Trees began to straighten themselves, and the vines that bound Aang went limp. He slipped out of it easily, rubbing his red wrists. Then he remember Katara and looked up.

The vines that were holding her, too, went limp. She slid out and began to fall headfirst. Terror scraped at Aang, screaming at him to move. he bent his legs, and leaped for her. He did an extra burst of airbending, shooting up even more, and caught Katara in his arms, and gently landed kneeling down. Concerned, he propped Katara's legs on his upright knee and used his free hand to brush her hair out of her face, worried that she had somehow still been affected from Hyshi's blackness. Her face looked peaceful enough, as if she was asleep, but he still wasn't sure.

"Katara," he whispered. "Katara?"

For a few moments, she didn't reply. Then just when Aang began to panic, her eyelids fluttered, then opened, and then they were all that Aang could see. They were just as oceanic blue as before, still twinkling and shining and filled with as much protectiveness and love as her heart had just proven. "Aang?" she rasped. "What happened?"

Her voice was like music...he felt such a rush of indescribable feelings that his eyes began to water. "Nothing," he managed to get out, tears spilling out of his grey eyes.

Katara's eyes widened as she saw him cry. "Aang, you're crying!" she exclaimed. "What's wrong?"

He laughed shakily, realizing how close he had come to losing this, her love and caring for him. "I guess you can ask what's right."

"But why are you crying?"

Aang smiled at her, and brushed another wisp of hair that had strayed back into her face. "Just that...I realized I was right about you, being beautiful on the inside as well as the outside."

She smiled back uncertainly. "So I guess Hyshi's gone?"

Aang felt chills run up his spine as he remembered the spirit's last words. **_One day she will leave you like Bei Pan left me! There is no such thing as true love! Let darkness taint your relationship!_**_ "_For good," he promised, though he wasn't so sure himself. She let out a sigh of relief and threw her arms around him. He returned her hug enthusiastically, burying his face in her hair, inhaling the smell of vanilla and sweet grass. "Don't ever scare me like that again," he whispered.

"I'll try," she replied.

"Oh Great Spirits, what happened?" Sokka's groan made both of their heads turn. He was climbing out of the hole at the base of the huge willow tree, which didn't seem so ominous as before. Behind him was Toph, who was stumbling out, looking dazed. Even more surprising were the villagers of Kyoshi, staggering almost drunkenly out behind them.

"Sokka! Toph!" Katara exclaimed, springing out of Aang's arms to go hug her brother, then Toph. "You're okay!"

"I feel terrible," the blind girl moaned when Katara released her. "Like a great darkness was on my soul or something."

Katara looked back at Aang, who had stood up. "Should we tell them now?"

He shook his head, feeling too exhausted. "Let's tell them when we find an inn."

"No," said Oyaji, stepping out the crowd. "I must insist you stay for the night. You have saved our island once again, Avatar."

Aang glanced at Katara. "Do you think we should?"

She shrugged. "It can't hurt."

"Excellent!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Villagers, go to your homes and get some rest. Team Avatar, follow me.

_*Bei Pan(背叛) actually means "betrayer" in traditional Chinese._


	3. Chapter 3

Continuing on with the story...letting Team Avatar rest after almost getting their soul sucked out. I even thought about adding songs(that are not mine, of course) to the story. I watching Glee the other day and I saw how they wove songs into the storyline and I thought, "Why can't I do that with mine?" I only put one in this time, but I'm hoping you'll approve for more! Hope you like it!

I own nothing!

* * *

After the grand feast that Oyaji had made for the team that Sokka had cleared in less than ten minutes, he showed them to the luxury inn that they had stayed in the first time they came to Kyoshi Island, though they had not stayed the night like how they intended to.

"You will love the rooms," Oyaji promised. "They have running bathrooms and large badgermole-sized beds and many entertainments. And outside is a garden, quite beautiful if I do say so myself. They say that Kyoshi's spirit blessed that special piece of land just for the most special of us."

"Thank you so much Oyaji," Aang thanked him warmly. "It will be enough."

"What about room service?' Sokka demanded. "I'm starving!"

"You just had two plates of koi fish, three bowls of sea prunes, four bodies of Artic hen, two possum chickens, and a whole rib-cage of an elephant seal!" Katara cried. "How you can you possibly still be hungry after all that?"

"Hey, I'm a growing boy," he protested, rubbing his stomach.

"I'll see if I can have that arranged," he promised before shambling behind into a door behind him.

Katara rubbed her temple, a spot where she got headaches ALOT at. She hoped no one noticed how beaten she felt. Aang noticed, though, and asked, "Are you okay, Katara?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine when I get to bed," she sighed. She was completely wiped out, suspecting that after pouring out all your light in your soul you would take a little while to get it all back in. And, even though Aang didn't want to say anything, it showed on her face. He felt the stirrings of guilt bubble in the pit of his stomach. If he hadn't had ignored all the signs that something was wrong with the island she would have been fine.

Wanting to help, he got up behind her, brushed the long hair that she hadn't bothered to tie back up out of the way, and gently laid his hands on her shoulders. She jumped at the feeling, then relaxed when she recognized Aang's touch. He gently massaged her shoulders, which were strained and tense.

"Hey!" Sokka shouted.

Aang jumped, though he didn't let go of Katara. "What?"

He glared at the airbender. "Hands off my sister!"

"Okay, sheesh!" Katara lamented the loss of the feeling of Aang's fingers on her as he swiftly took them back. He looked at Sokka with a look of defiance on his face. "She's clearly stressed out and I was just trying to help her, since nobody else seemed to want to."

Sokka looked just about ready to beat Aang over the head with his boomerang when Oyaji came back into the room. "I have found several willing servants ready to serve you any bedtime snacks," he announced. "Now, let me show you to your rooms. Sokka and Avatar Aang, you both get the bottom floor. Aang's yours is first on the right, while Sokka's is the first on the left, though I doubt you'll find any other doors on that entire bottom floor. Master Katara and Toph, you two have it the same upstairs on the second floor. Toph on the left and Katara's on the right. I wish you all a good night." With that, he turned around and walked back through the door.

"You know, when he said that he was going to show us our rooms, I thought that he was actually going to show us our rooms," Toph said after a few moments of silence.

Everybody agreed.

* * *

Katara sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck, collapsing into the soft, squishy armchair that sat in front of her huge window. Her neck, shoulders, back, and arms ached even more than before Aang had tried to help, if that was even possible. They made her feel all wobbly and unfocused, though she tried not to show it when they got to the inn. She absent-mindedly scratched at the red, chaffed skin around her left wrist, and leaned over to get a better look out to see the garden that Oyaji had been talking about, and quietly gasped.

Oyaji hadn't been exaggerating; the garden _was _beautiful, with something about the strange lilies that were scattered around, lacing themselves on the vinyls, their snow-drop flowers glowing a mysterious silver, that made it seem mystical, as if the spirits had actually came down and blessed the place. Most of the other flowers were the same shade as the sunset outside: red, orange, pink, and a light purple. She stopped scratching and saw that others were the color of shadows, though in a good way. They weren't ominous like the shadows of Hyshi. The patterns they had in formation and colors mimicked the shadows cast from mountains.

"Wow," she murmured, then winced as she felt another painful twinge in her neck and spine. Suddenly, she felt soft, cool, light fingers gently remove her hand, then put two soft waterbended cooling pads on her neck and shoulders. She instantly breathed a sigh of relief, leaning into the body.

"Is that better?" Aang asked before pressing his lips to her hair.

She nodded, closing her eyes. "Yeah. A lot."

"Where's is the pain worse?" he whispered, his lips now close to her ear.

"Now? My shoulder blades and the little spot in between them."

He lowered his hands until he was there. "Aaahhh," she purred blissfully, feeling all of her tense muscles loosen up. "That's the spot." A thought came to her, and she chuckled.

"What?"

"Hmm? Oh nothing. I just remember the times when it would be me healing you, and now I've taught you well enough to be helping _me._ I just find it somewhat ironic."

Aang laughed as he waterbended the water into an urn in one of the corners of the room. "Don't stop!" Katara exclaimed, sitting up straight.

"Relax, Katara," he said soothingly, laying his hands on her shoulders, and started to message them. "I'm not finished yet."

"Oh. _Oh. Oohh._" She leaned back into his arms, silently loving the feeling of him. He pressed his fingers and molded her skin in just the right places. Suddenly, she felt his lips against her neck, and a moan escaped from her throat as his lips fluttered up and down her throat. "Aang," she whispered, her heart pounding and feeling lightheaded. He lightly caressed her with his tongue, making her gasp. He continued to massage her as he made-out with her throat; she continued to groan and moan for him, her hands gripping at the armrests.

"Come on, I just relaxed those muscles," he murmured against her skin. Her only reply was another moan. Aang laughed gently as he skimmed up her neck to under her chin, softly lifting her head up. She panted for breath as he kissed her there and closed her eyes, feeling as if life couldn't get any better. Then he traveled upwards until he finally reached her lips. She met his eagerly, grabbing his head between her fingers. He snaked one arm from her shoulder down to her waist to grip her there, but not before lingering dangerously close to her chest. His other hand came down to wrap around her before locking onto his right hand to hold her. Katara traced the arrow on his forehead lovingly before drawing it down the side of his face to cup it again.

If you had asked Katara almost three years ago that she would be kissing Aang, being so close to him, to love him so strongly, she would have said that they were nuts, that he wasn almost like a little brother to her(how ironic was that?). But now, she couldn't imagine her life without him, her future without Aang. It was just impossible to think about. He would always be there, she reasoned. Because he was hers. And she was his.

It took her a little while to figure out that Aang wasn't kissing her anymore. She opened her eyes only to feel Aang slightly munching on her ear, licking it and grazing it with his teeth. She sighed, leaning into him. He removed his lips and whispered in her ear, "Meet me in the garden." Without another word, he released her, stood up straight, the stopped at the doorway and turned and smirked at her, then left her room. Startled, she only watched him leave in bemusement. Aang was one of those types of lovers that could shine down all of the love that the spirits could hold, but at the same time be a tease and make them go wild for more. For a few moments, she sat there, then realized what he had said.

She got up to close the door and ran to the super large closet that the village had supplied with beautiful outfits. She just prayed that some would be in her size.

* * *

Aang jogged down the stairs, feeling giddy and end excited. At the base of the stairs he flattened himself against the wall and stared up at the ceiling going over every single detail of their make-out. It was, without a doubt, their most passionate. He had simply gone in there to continue what Sokka had kept him from doing earlier, then got the idea. And things just...happened. He released a breath he had been holding in since he left the room, savoring the taste of Katara's skin. And he could barely remember a time when she had attacked him like that...well, except last night. He chuckled, seeing his leaving her all puzzled and wanting as retaliation from the night before.

"Someone's in a good mood. What happened?" Aang looked down from the ceiling to see Toph sitting down at the counter table, drinking a glass of peach juice.

He blushed. "Uh, nothing. Just-uh-going out to the garden."

"With Katara?'

"Uh, maybe. I'm not sure."

"Well, if you want to meet her," she said before taking a swing of the juice, "you better hurry and get there, because Sokka is going to be grilling her about where you've been before coming to look for you. He already asked me and I told him you were in the garden. So if you still want an alibi-"

"What? Why is he trying to keep us apart?"

She shrugged. "Don't ask me. He seems bent on keeping you two apart."

He sighed. He really wished that Sokka had done this last year, because Aang really did want to be with Katara now, more than ever. And an overprotective brother coming out of the blue did not help. "Can you be my alibi?"

"Didn't I already say I would be?"

He smiled at her, though he knew she couldn't see it. "Thanks, Toph."

Aang hurried out of the inn and followed the large river-stones until he came to a large metal gate with the symbol of a single lily on the arch. He pushed the door open and slipped inside, and just in time, too, because a few seconds later Sokka stomped past the garden door, fuming and muttering. Aang couldn't help but laugh as soon as he was out of earshot. Then he turned to the garden, then gasped.

* * *

Katara laid out her dress on the bed, and looked it over. It was simple enough; it was a silver gossamer-material shirt that cut off just above the belly button with embroidered swirls mimicking air patterns all over with a long green skirt that reached her toes.

There came a knock at the door. She frowned, looking up from her outfit. Aang wasn't usually impatient. She walked over to teh door and opened it to reveal not Aang, but Sokka. "Sokka!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Aang. Is he in here?" he demanded.

"No, why?"

He didn't answer her question; he ducked his head in to her room and saw the dress. "But you're planning to meet him," he growled, standing up straight.

She rolled her eyes. "So what? I'm meeting my boyfriend for a date."

"Katara, I saw you two so close to doing-you know-_it _yesterday, and he just seemed ready to do it!" he hissed. "What if he tried you?"

"_Tried me? _Aang would never do that!" she cried.

"How do you know?" he demanded.

_Because whenever I try to get him to, he stops me and keeps saying that we should wait for us to be married, _she thought. Then she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger in exasperation. "Sokka, just trust me. He would never try and take advantage of me like that. And you know he wouldn't, too."

"I know, Katara, but some people change," he said. She glared at him. He shrugged. "Hey, puberty can do that to people." Then his face turned serious. "I just don't want to see my little sister get hurt."

"Thanks, Sokka, but I'll be fine," she assured him, though for a brief second, she felt a flutter of dark foreshadowing. She shook it off and hugged her older brother.

He warmly embraced her back. When they let go, though, he frowned. "Are you really wearing that?" he asked, pointing to her skirt and shirt.

"Yeah. Why?"

He shook his head and walked over to her closet. "It's too formal and you're trying to put too much of Aang on to yourself." He started pawing through the clothes. "If he really loves you, he wants something that represents you." Sokka pulled out a dress. Katara squinted at it. It was made of thick silk, the color of oceanic blue, with one shoulder draped while the other was bare. Just like the shirt, there was tiny silver embroidered swirls of air that framed the bottom of the dress. It would probably reach just below her knees.

She raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Of course," he assured her. Sokka held up the dress next to her and smiled. "It matches your eyes."

Katara rolled her eyes as she took the dress. "I hope so."

* * *

Smoothing down the front of her dress, Katara looked up at the gate. She inhaled a deep breath, then pushed the door open. She looked up and gasped.

The garden had changed colors in the short time she had left her room. The shadows-of-the-mountain flowers seemed to have spread, making the place seem more mystical. As she looked around, she saw things she hadn't seen from her room: there were tall ginkgoes trees and weeping willow trees and there were a few trees that she had never seen before whose branches spiraled and twisted gracefully to the sides and towards the sky. They were covered with beautiful flowers that seemed to have the sunset's colors splashed on them. And then there were hedges and bushes, decorated with flowers and berries and colorfully decorated branches, making it seem more like a forest.

Katara just stood there, unsure of where to go. There were no paths she could follow and she didn't see any sign from Aang. Suddenly, a soft breeze came from inside the "garden". It swirled around her and played with her hair, caressing her face. She recognized the touch immediately and let it pick her up and carry her.

It pushed away all of the branches and leaves that were in the way as the wind carried her through the garden. She looked around in amazement and wonder at the plants. Now she was sure that this place had been blessed. How else would the bark of the passing willow trees be silver? Or that some of the flowers were colors like fuchsia and turquoise and magenta and periwinkle and caramel? Or that there would be stripes and dots on the most beautiful trees and flowers and leaves that mixed in with the theme of the place so perfectly?

The wind finally set her down on her feet in front of a willow tree's curtain of silver leaves and vanished. She took a deep breath and pushed away the curtain to see Aang sitting with his back to her, his tattoos glowing faintly before fading away. Aang then opened his eyes and turned around to face her, a look of uncertainty on his face. Then it vanished to be replaced with joy and love. Katara then knew that nobody would look at her with that much passion in his eyes just at the sight of her.

He airbended himself to his feet and for a second they just stared at each other. Then it was like at the North Pole again: they just strode up to each other and embraced each other. Then Aang held her at an arm's length, his eyes widening even more as he took in her outfit. "You look beautiful, Katara," he said earnestly. "The color matches your eyes and the dress is beautiful and you're beautiful and I just...I just..." He searched for the right words in his head. "I'm just so glad that you're with me."

"Well, it's not like I had any other choice," she teased, tickling him in the ribcage.

He giggled and caught her hands and pulled her in for a quick kiss. "And besides, I bet Haru or Jet can't kiss like I can."

"How would I know? They never had the guts to kiss me. Unlike someone else I know," she added slyly.

Aang laughed again. "Come on, let's sit down." They plopped down on to the soft, cool, sweet blue(?) grass. Just then, another breeze came, though this time it was natural. It blew a few strands of hair into Katara's face. Aang reached over and tucked them back behind her ear and smiled again. She blushed, though she wasn't sure why. "Do you like this place?" he asked.

She looked around. The willow tree they were sitting under broke out of the many bushes and tendrils and flowers bursting out of the ground, shooting up till it was taller than Appa. Trees' foliage blocked most of the sky except directly above them, where the sky was tinged pink and orange. There was a tiny pond next to them, the water rippling with the slight wind. "It's beautiful," she said honestly, turning back to him. "How did you find this place?"

"Took me a while," he admitted, then looked up and grinned, "but your detour in the closet helped." She swatted at him, though she was laughing. "But it was worth it," he added shyly, glancing at her.

"Like how I spent all evening in the bathroom with Toph to go to the Earth King's party?" she asked.

"No. Not quite. This time, it was much better."

"Thanks, Aang."

Suddenly, Sokka burst through the branches, and Katara felt like screaming to the spirits. Why did he have to show up whenever they were having a moment!? "Hey, you guys. Have you seen Toph?" he panted.

Katara raised an eyebrow. So he wasn't here to check up on them? "You haven't seen her?"

"No, I was looking for her earlier and I haven't seen her in almost an hour. I'm really worried about her."

Aang frowned. "I saw her before I came in here. She was at the main room."

"I checked there!" Sokka replied, throwing his arms in frustration.

"Did you check her room?" Aang asked.

Sokka stopped to think about it. Katara slapped her forehead in exasperation. "You didn't check her room?" she exclaimed.

"I...I didn't think to. I'll check there now." Sokka whirled around and disappeared back into the bushes.

Katara grabbed Aang's hand and stood up. "Where are we going?" Aang asked in bewilderment as she dragged him through the bushes the opposite way that Sokka had left. They crunched through the garden in silence before she came to an abrupt stop and swerved him in front of her.

"I want to find a place where Sokka can't find us," she told him. "I really did like that place, but it's too easy for Sokka to find us there."

"It's okay. I understand," he assured her. "Come on, I saw another place that I found by accident." They ran through the garden, which seemed to be endless; they saw no walls or fences or even the inn as they were running. They jumped over fallen logs decorated by moss and flew past ponds that reflected the now dying sun and the rising moon. Other animals flew past them; Katara spotted a lop-eared rabbit hiding in the bushes, a rabbit hopping through the thistles, birds and butterflies and glowflies diving in and out of the tree, and she even swore that a herd of fox antelope were running besides them for a couple moments.

Finally, Aang came to a stop before a pair blackberry bush. He pushed the two apart to reveal a grassy path down a hill that Katara hadn't seen before. "Ladies first," he told her. She rolled her eyes, but got on her behind and slid down. The grassy slope led her down to a small patch of close-to-the-ground blossoms surrounded by taller plants that completely covered them. It was like a tiny grove made entirely of flowers.

Katara was so transfixed by the simple beauty of the place that she forgot to move before Aang slid down. "Look out!" he cried out, but he had already slammed into her back. She yelped as he bowled her over and she was flat on her back, Aang on his stomach next to her.

"Sorry," he panted. "Couldn't stop."

"It's okay." She groaned as she sat up.

Aang got up and looked around. "So you like this place, too?"

She nodded. "It's beautiful."

He stared at her before replying softly, "Not as beautiful as you."

Katara had a feeling that she would remember this night for years to come.

* * *

Katara and Aang were filling the night up with laughter. "So, wait, one more, one more," Katara begged, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"Okay, okay. So what's a bloodbender's favorite drink?" Aang asked.

"Uh, cactus juice?" she suggested.

"No. A bloody Mary!" Aang and her laughed again. She knew his jokes were corny, but they were funny just because he said it.

Aang looked to his left, then something caught his eye. He reached over to one of the flower bushes and picked a silver flower with splashes of blue, and leaned over to Katara to fasten it behind her ear. Aang touched it gently, then the side of her face. Katara caught it and pressed it against her cheek and laid her face on his hand. Aang smiled, stroking her cheek with his free fingers.

"I love moments like these," Katara said, giving him back his hand. "Where it's just us and we're alone and we're enjoying ourselves."

"Yeah. I would have killed for these moments over a year ago, with the Fire Nation chasing after us and having no time to stop for fun." He paused. "I actually can't remember a time where it was just us."

Katara frowned. "Have you forgotten the Cave of Two Lovers? You said that you would rather die than kiss me!"

"I didn't mean it!"

"Uh huh."

"No, really! And besides, we were stuck in there about to die, so that doesn't really count," he pointed out.

"What about the North Pole?"

"You were too busy trying to become the greatest waterbending master in the world." She narrowed her eyes. "Not that there was anything wrong with that," he added hastily.

She rolled her eyes. "How about the Northen Air Temple, when I had my first gliding lesson?" she suggested.

Aang tilted his head to side, considering it, then shook his head. "No. We didn't do anything."

Katara sighed, then she as she remembered one. "When we first met, you took me penguin sledding! And remember how we explored the Fire Nation ship?"

He laughed as he remembered. "Yeah, that was so much fun! How could I forget that? You were really good at it; you almost won."

"I would have if you hadn't airbendered," she reminded him. "Cheater!"

"An airbender's gotta do what an airbender's gotta do!" he tried out, and was rewarded with a laugh. "But that's almost nothing compared to when I was telling you about running away," he said. "I haven't told anybody else about how I got stuck in that iceberg."

"Really?" For some reason, she felt touched. Then she shook it off and thought about it. "Aang, you really should tell someone. It's not good to hold in a secret like that."

"I'm not holding it in. I let it out...to you." Aang smiled at her.

She blushed, and turned her head away, then a flower caught her eye. It was extraordinarily simple, even for a plain garden. But it shone out like a star. She reached over and picked it and handed it to Aang. "What does it remind you of?" she asked.

He held it close to his nose and inhaled deeply. "Home," he whispered.

It was a white lotus.

Aang looked up from the flower, leaned over, and closed his eyes as his lips met Katara's. She closed hers, too, as she returned his kiss. He set the flower down beside him as he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pulled her closer. Katara caressed one side of his face. He pulled back slowly, opening his eyes. She blinked her open. "I had no idea it meant so much to you," she whispered.

"It meant everything," he replied. They hugged each other, laying their heads on the other's shoulder. "If you could have anything," he whispered in her ear, "what would it be?"

"Sing," she breathed without thinking.

For a second Aang thought he had heard her wrong, and drew back. "What?"

Her cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that, I just-"

"Katara, it's okay," he laughed. "What song?"

"One from the Southern Air Temple."

"Okay. Hmm..." He gazed into space, trying to think of the right song. Then it came to him. He turned back to her and grabbed both of her hands and began to sing in a soft, sweet, high soprano:

_ "Here I am. This is me.  
There's no where else on Earth I'd rather be.  
Here I am. I__t's just me and you."_

He smiled at her and she blushed again. He continued,

_"And tonight we make our dreams come true._

It's a new world! It's a new start!  
It's alive with the beating of young hearts!  
It's a new day! it 's a new plan!  
I've been waiting for you,  
Here I am."

"Aang, that was beautiful," Katara breathed.

"Thanks." But he didn't think so. It was too short and had little to do with them. Or, at least, that's what he thought. So, making up words as he went along, he sang,

_"Here we are. We've just begun  
And after all this time our time has come.  
Here we are. Still goin' strong!  
Right here in the place where we belong!  
_

_It's a new world! It's a new start!  
It's alive with the beating of young hearts!  
It's a new day! it 's a new plan!  
I've been waiting for you,  
Here I am." _

_"Here I am, next to you  
And suddenly the world is all brand new.  
Here I am, where I'm gonna stay!  
Now there's nothing standing in our way!"_

As he continued to sing powerfully, Katara noticed a faint glowing around him. Not like how his tattoos glowed, but a sort of aura around him. And it shone like a glowfly in the night. She listened to the melody, drinking in every word. Aang took a deep breath, then began to sing the last verse.

___ "Here I am. This is me.  
There's no where else on Earth I'd rather be.  
Her____e I am. I__t's just me and you._

_Tonight we make our dreams...come true."_

Aang let the last word hang in the air. "How was that?" he asked in a normal voice afterwards.

"It was amazing!" Katara exclaimed. "How come you never told me you could sing?"

He shrugged. "You never asked."

She found herself at a loss for words. So instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and and closed her eyes as she kissed him. Startled, he stopped thinking for a few seconds before realizing that Katara was licking his mouth. He opened his mouth and her tongue flicked inside him. "Mmmmhhhh," he moaned, grabbing her shoulders. As softly as he could, he began to push her down on to the flowers until she was on her back, Aang right on top of her. Aang gently pressed his lips against hers a last time before drawing back to catch his breath. Just at that moment, a ray of moonshine burst through the woven plants and trees and flowers and landed directly on Katara and the spot around.

He froze, transfixed by the very image of her. Her dark brown hair fanned out behind her, glowing silver in the moonshine, her skin glistened the color of chocolate, her eyes shone beautifully, the large ocean-blue irises seeming to be even larger, in the moonlight. The flower Aang had put behind of her ear sparkled next to her. She was beautiful. No, she was more than beautiful. It was if the Ocean and Moon spirits had joined together to make this unearthly being. What other answer could there be?

Katara looked at him and smiled, almost making Aang's heart stop. She got on her elbows and kissed him, then kissed him again. Aang's head went completely blank except for the most simplest of thoughts. _May every day we spend together be as wonderful as this,_ was his last thought before kissing her back.

* * *

Aang laid in his bed, in just his pants, reading a scroll that had just came back from Zuko. He read it eagerly, scrolling the letter to find his reply.

"_'I was regretting the decision the Earth King made...the world shouldn't be thrown into war...I wanted to show him Yu Dao could support two nations at once...',_ blah blah blah_, and I am willing to meet up with you to face the Earth King!'_" he exclaimed. He didn't bother reading the rest of the letter; it was only that part that truly counted. Instead he tossed it on to one of the nearby chairs where his tunic laid at and sighed in happiness, laying back on the pillowed, staring up at the ceiling, grinning.

Suddenly, he heard his door swing open. He looked down to see Katara closing the door behind her, her body swathed in a cottony white robe. "Oh, hi, Katara!" he chirped.

"Hi, Aang." She smiled mischievously as she walked towards him, her hips swinging prominently, Aang noticed. She took off her robe and Aang's brown eyes widened as he saw what she had underneath: she was wearing a rather thin see-through night-gown the color of periwinkle, and it was very revealing. It was hitched up to her thighs and the neckline plunged to the middle of her chest. Showing off a large amount of cleavage.

His cheeks reddened and he tried to avoid looking further down than her neck. "So, uh, um, whatcha doing here?" he asked, trying to sound casual, but failing miserably.

"Just wanted to thank you for the date tonight," she answered, tossing her robe on to Aang tunic before crawling on to the bed and on to Aang.

"No problem. It was, uh, my pleasure?" he squeaked as she sat on top of his lap. She smirked, and traced the outline of his face seductively with one finger. He swallowed. Katara would sometimes go into provocative moods and tease Aang as much as possible. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy it, but the way she placed herself as top dog...it was sometimes almost impossible to hold back.

"It is your pleasure," she purred, getting down on her elbows and began to flick her finger on Aang's bare chest. He tried not to let himself gasp at the touch. he knew that to Katara, this was a game, and if he showed any sign to let her know she was winning, she would keep on going, torturing him until he was a savage, hungering for her touch.

She tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong, Aang?" she asked in a pretend-concerned voice. Then she grinned evilly and stroked his cheek with the hand she had been touching his chest with. He squeezed his eyes. "Your cheeks are so red...I wonder why?"

No, his cheeks weren't red. His whole face was blazing crimson. He desperately tried to find something to stop her without using bending and looked all around the room for something. His eyes landed on the scroll peeking out from underneath her robe, and he shouted, "Zuko's going to meet us!"

Katara stopped in her tracks. "What?"

"Zuko, he-he said that he'll meet us on Curly-Tailed Blue-Nose Island," he gasped. "And that he'll meet us there in two weeks."

"Two weeks? That's a lot of time, a lot more than we hoped for," she said, becoming thoughtful, abandoning all pretense of being provocative. "It's about a two days journey from here, so we have a while," she mused. "And what about the Earth King?"

"Haven't gotten a letter from him yet," he replied, relieved that she had stopped.

"Well, we'll probably get one from him in the morning," she decided, rolling off of Aang on to her back next to him. Aang found this situation oddly de ja vu-ish, remembering their time in the garden. She arched her head back to look at him, and he couldn't help but shiver as her eyes seemed to pierce his soul. "Aang, is it all right if I sleep with you for the night?" she asked.

He hesitated. "I promise I won't do anything," she promised eagerly, rolling on to her stomach. "And I'm...I'm kind of afraid that Hyshi will come back." True fear showed in her eyes.

Aang's willpower, or whatever he had left of it, completely melted and he opened his arms. She crawled into them and she snuggled against his chest, burrowing her face into his shoulder. He sighed, holding her tight as he pulled up the cover with his free arm over them. "Good night, Aang," she whispered.

"Good night, Katara." He shot a burst of air at the kerosene lamp, putting out the fire. The room didn't go dark, though. The moon shone through the window on the other side of the room. Once again reminded of the garden, he glanced at Katara, but she was already asleep, hair that had fallen into her face fluttering with every soft snore. He suppressed a laugh. It seemed her hair was always in her face, which was why she probably had it tied up or braided.

He placed a kiss on her forehead, and wrapped both arms around her waist tightly, and stared out the window. There were no shadows anywhere in the room, or as far as he could see outside. A night of peace from today's terrors. Aang recalled how Hyshi had mocked her, touched her with his shadows, and had almost corrupted her beyond repair. The thoughts filled him with anger. _I promise to never let anything harm you ever,_ he vowed. _Especially not tonight._


	4. Chapter 4

I'm baaack! I'm still trying out the whole "weaving songs into the storyline for the characters to sing" thing, so only one song this chapter. I decided to pick a a song that most people know, unlike the last one, which is from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Oh, and comment if you know the song that Katara sang to Aang!

I do not own anything!

* * *

Katara felt herself wake up without opening her eyes. She could feel Aang's arms still around her, the sun pouring on to her face. Two of her favorite things in one morning? _It's enough to wake me up. _

She yawned and opened her eyes. She was laying against Aang's side, who was sitting up...in the same place he had been when she had fallen asleep, though he was now looking outside through the window. Frowning, she propped herself up on one elbow. "Aang?"

He turned to her and her worries were confirmed. There were bags underneath his eyes, which were red. "Aang, did you get any sleep last night?" she asked, concerned.

"Hmm? What?" He blinked his eyes, as if he wasn't mentally with her.

"Aang. Did you stay up all night?" she demanded.

"Huh? Uh, what time is it?" he groaned, freeing one arm to rub his eyes.

"It's past sunrise."

"Really? I hadn't even noticed." He turned back to the rising sun.

Katara sat up and put her hands on either side of his face and gently turned his face back to her. "Aang, you need to sleep. I don't want you to become an insomniac like you did before the Day of Black Sun. You only get this way when something's bothering you."

Aang took a deep breath and pressed his hands over hers. "I just didn't want you to get hurt. I wanted...I wanted to protect you. I don't want anything to hurt you, especially last night."

She smiled, though a little sadly. "Only you could ever hurt me. And I know you never could." She wrapped her fingers around his own and brought both of their hands down into his lap. "But you don't need to protect me, Aang. That's my job. To protect me and you." She placed a small kiss on his forehead. "Now get some sleep."

He smiled back at her, then yawned and laid his head on her lap. Katara held one side of his face while tracing his arrow. "Could you sing me a song?" he whispered.

"Of course." Aang sighed and closed his eyes as she began to sing. but his mind was so clogged up and foggy that he could only process bits and pieces of the song she was singing. He wouldn't even remember how she sang later on. But he did remember one line before drifting off to sleep.

_"You and I'll be safe and sound."_

* * *

As soon as Katara was sure that he was asleep, she gently picked up his head and laid it on the pillow. Then she slid out of the bed, slipped her robe back on, and tip-toed out of the room. She would have rather stayed in bed with him, but she knew that if Sokka caught them together in Aang's room, with her revealing nightdress, he would have a fit, if he didn't faint first.

She quietly walked up the stairs and was about to enter her room when Sokka walked out of it. "Sokka!" she exclaimed.

"There you are! I've been looking for you!" He spotted the guilty look on her face, then demanded, "Did you spend the night with Aang?"

"What? Why would you think that?" she pretended with mock-horror.

"Because your bed's made and you just came downstairs. Just admit it, you were with him!" he accused, pointing a finger.

She rolled her eyes, trying to throw him off. "Come on, Sokka. I woke up, made my bed, went upstairs to say good morning to Aang, and I just came back down here," she lied.

He squinted at her. "How do I know if you're lying?" he growled.

Katara shrugged. "You'll just have to trust me. Now, can I please get into my room so I can get dressed?" Sokka opened his mouth, as if to object, but she simply pushed him out the way and shut the door behind her before he could say anything. She sighed, flopping on to her bed. She wasn't tired or exhausted. She just felt like doing it. _I wonder if all of the other guy Avatars had a girlfriend who had such an overprotective brother._ She knew that the answer would probably be no.

* * *

"Hey, Katara," Toph greeted as she came back downstairs an hour later, wearing her regular Water Tribe dress, her hair tied back up. She came into the dining room, where Toph was sitting alone, eating a bowl of what seemed to be brown mush. Toph caught her staring, and said defensively, "It's good for the muscles and bones!"

"Ah. I'll keep that in mind," she said, though she privately thought that she would rather eat fireballs than that. Then she recalled something. "Hey, where were you last night? Sokka was looking for you."

"Uh, my room. Why was Sokka looking for me?'

She shrugged. "We told him that you were probably in your room and he took off. Your telling me he didn't come?"

"Hey, I was picking my toes all night," she answered before taking another spoonful of her "breakfast". "I wouldn't have minded some company, though," she added.

Katara frowned. "Odd. Well, next time, you can just ask me -"

"Oh no you don't!" She pointed at her. "The next time we go somewhere for fun, I'll probably get my face and feet done!"

"And what's wrong with that?" Katara challenged.

"Uh, you might be getting all prettied up for your boyfriend, Sugar Queen, but my man likes me just the way I am," Toph said defiantly.

"Wait a second, did you just say _my man_?" Katara gasped. "Oh my goodness, do you have a_ boyfriend_?!"

Toph froze. "Uh...I didn't say...I mean, I-that came out wrong! I mean, my _friends _like me just the way I am," she corrected, though she was blushing.

"You're cheeks are turning red," Katara teased. "You do have a boyfriend!"

"Okay, okay, I have a boyfriend! But don't tell anyone," she pleaded.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," she assured her.

"What secret?" Sokka entered the dining room.

"Nothing," Toph said quickly. "Hey, Katara told me that you had to see me last night about something. What was it?"

Sokka frowned, then his face lit up and as he remembered. "Oh yeah, you got a letter last night!" He dug around in his pockets, then yanked out a scroll and handed it to Toph, who handed it to Katara. She rose her eyebrow, then quickly scanned the letter, and asked Toph tentatively, trying not to laugh, "Are you sure that you want me to read this aloud, Toph?"

Toph caught on and shook her head, snatching the letter back. "I'll just ask you to read it to me later. So, where's Twinkletoes?"

"Apparently still asleep," Sokka replied, shooting a glare at Katara.

"That's odd. He's usually up at dawn," Toph commented, taking another sip of her mush.

"Well, I think we should let him sleep in," Katara put in hastily. "I mean, he's been stressed out for the last few days. I think a couple extra hours of sleeping can help him relax."

"Hey, whatever you say," Toph shrugged. "But you might want to order some food for him. I hear the kitchen closes in an hour."

Katara nodded, and, avoiding Sokka's glaring at her, hurried over to the front desk to order some food.

After about thirty minutes, she returned to the table with two plates, one on each hand. She slid both on to the table, then sat down in front of the one with sausages and platypus bear's scrambled eggs and blackberries. "So, we got a letter from Zuko," she said as she chewed on one end of a sausage. "He said that he'll meet up with us on the island in two weeks."

"That's great!" Sokka exclaimed. "And what about the Earth King?"

"We still haven't gotten a letter from him yet," she admitted. "But I'm confident that he'll say yes."

"Yeah, maybe the hawk sitting on the windowsill behind you will tell us something," Toph agreed. Startled, Katara turned her head to see Hawky sitting on the ledge outside the window. She opened the window and he flew inside and landed on the table in front of Sokka.

"Hawky!" he cried, embracing the messenger bird. It squawked and flew out of his arms and landed on Toph's shoulder. She reached over her back and took out the letter from his pouch and handed it to Sokka. Then she handed a piece of bacon to Hawky and stroked his head as he devoured the strip of bacon. "Hawky, I can just kiss you!" Sokka exclaimed as he read the letter.

"What? What happened? Is it from the Earth King?" Katara jogged around the table to see.

"He says that he'll meet us at the island in two weeks!" He hugged Katara and picked her up and swung her around, whooping and shouting in happiness, though she tried to squirm out of his grip.

"What's all that racket?" Aang's voice made them stop and turn and look at the doorway. Aang was rubbing his eyes, standing in just his pants at the entrance to the dining room.

"Aang, you won't believe it!" Katara ran out of Sokka's arms and threw her own arms around Aang, surprising him. She pulled back, her eyes shining and filled with joy. "You're plan worked! We just got a reply from the Earth King and he said that he'll meet us in two weeks!"

"Really?" he gasped. He still felt as if he was asleep, still in a dream. "In two weeks? They'll both be there?"

"Yes! Isn't this wonderful?"

"Is it wonderful? Katara, that's fantastic!" he cried, picking her up and swinging her around like Sokka did, though this time she laughed and didn't try to let go. "So wait, we have a week and a half to prepare?" he asked when he set her down.

"PREPARE?! FORGET preparing! We should PARTY!" Sokka looked around at his friends' faces eagerly, looking for encouragement or support. When he didn't see either, he gaped at them. "Come on, you guys! We REALLY need this! When was the last time any of us just went out and just had fun? And dates don't count," he added sternly, seeing Katara opening her mouth. She closed it. "I mean, we all had a blast at Aang's secret dance party in the Fire Nation, am I right? Well, we should have that, except on a bigger scale and a whole lot funner!" He grinned broadly at them.

Aang shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"I wouldn't mind having another dance party," Toph said.

"But where are we going to have it at?" Katara asked.

"There's an island not too far away from Kyoshi Island that has this huge ballroom," he said eagerly. "And people from the Fire Nation Colonies and the Earth Kingdom can come and it'll be AWESOME!"

Katara and Aang glanced at each other. Somehow, the idea of inviting the people from the feuding nations didn't sound like a good idea. Katara sighed, and looked at Sokka. "If you can find a way to arrange this by nightfall, we'll go ahead with the dance party."

"YES! All I'll need is Appa and I'll be done before sunset!" He bolted out the room to the stables where they were holding the Sky Bison.

Toph sighed as she got up. "I'd better go with him before he hurts himself."

Aang waved her good-bye, and then it was just the two alone in the dining room. "Soo..." Katara said slowly, leaning on to Aang. "What do you want to do now?"

He yawned loudly. "What would you do if I said 'sleep'?"

Katara laughed.

* * *

Aang and Katara were playing a game of Pai Sho out on the porch, the sun beginning to set. Aang squinted at the board, trying to figure out the reason behind Katara's strange move.

"Hey, I think Sokka's back!" Katara exclaimed, pointing to the horizon.

"Nice try, Katara," Aang muttered, not looking up from the board, "but I'm not falling for that trick again!"

"No, I'm serious!" she insisted. "Look!"

He glanced up at her, then turned his head to see that Katara was right. Appa was flying back, his white coat hard to miss in the pink-streaked sky. Katara hopped over the porch and landed on the sand beneath it. Aang quickly follow her, landing next to her. "Hold on!" he warned, and swooped her up in his arms.

"Hey!"

He ignored her and began to run across the beach, his legs a blur as he used airbending to give him super speed. Katara clung to him, her face the perfect picture of fright. Aang skidded to a stop when his feet touched the ground just as Appa landed in front of them.

"We're back!" Sokka called as he jumped off of Appa's back, Toph sliding down behind him. "And we got over nine hundred people to come! Even your little friend Fire Nation. What her name? On Ji! Yeah! I got her and the others to come! She said that she couldn't wait to see you again!"

He blushed. "Really? Even though I'm the Avatar? It'd be really nice seeing her again."

Katara said stiffly, "You can put me down now, Aang."

"Huh? Oh, sure!" He tried to put her down gently, but his hand slipped and he ended up dropping her on her back. "Oh, Katara! I'm sorry!" He tried to help her up, but she smacked his hand away.

"I can get up myself!" she snapped. She got to her feet, wincing as she felt a possible bruise on her back. Aang meekly tried to dust off her dress, but she stepped away from him, and did it herself. Anger bubbled up inside her, though she had no idea why she had gotten so upset at the sound of the Fire Nation girl's name. She just felt cold and...jealous.

"Oh, and your little fan club girls are coming!" Sokka added.

"That's great!" Aang exclaimed. "I've really missed them!"

Katara couldn't stand it anymore. "Great! Just great!" she shouted. "Why don't you just say Meng and Jo Jo are coming, too?" She whirled around and stomped away.

"Well, Meng said that she might!" Sokka called to her. "But Jo Jo behind bars, so I don't think she can come!"

Aang started after Katara, but Toph grabbed his arm, stopping him. "You shouldn't do that. She doesn't want to talk to you," she said quietly.

He sighed. "What did I do this time?"

"Maybe being inconsiderate to her feelings?" she suggested sarcastically, then let him go. "Fine, go talk to her. You can't do any more harm, unless you her that you've cheated on her." She felt him hesitate. "You haven't, have you?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then do what you think is right."

Sokka, being completely clueless as always, looked back and forth to the two, clearly confused. "What? What's wrong?"

"Hey, Sokka, I heard that Oyaji might have found your space sword," Toph said. "He's on the other side of the island." Without another word, Sokka sped off towards were Oyaji was supposed to be, yelling, "SPACE SWORD!" Toph turned back to Aang and punched him in the arm. "Go get her, Twinkletoes. She's in the inn."

He tried to smile at her, though he was too busy wincing and rubbing at his arm to smile properly. Then Aang turned back towards the inn and began to walk towards it.

* * *

Aang stood in front of Katara's door, unsure of how to approach. He tentatively knocked on her door, and he heard a muffled voice. "Go away."

He opened her door and peeked inside. "Katara?" He was rewarded with a pillow being thrown at him.

"I said go away!"

"Look, Katara, can we talk?"

"What do airbenders not get about going away!"

He sighed and opened the door all the way. Katara was sitting on the bed, her back to him. "Can we talk?" he asked again, taking a step towards her.

"If you don't get out, I'll waterbend your arrow off of your head," she threatened.

"No you won't," he said, though he was praying that he was right. He took another step towards her.

"You don't know that I won't."

"No," he admitted. "But I know you, right? Isn't that good enough?"

She gave a humorless laugh. "Really? You didn't seem to know outside."

"I'm sorry. About what happened outside. I didn't mean to sound so...inconsiderate." Trying his luck, he took two more steps.

"You better retract one step, or you'll be coughing up water for a month." He hastily took a step back. "And yes, you were very inconsiderate outside. But then again, being the Avatar, you have the whole world's feelings about you to matter. You should probably care for theirs first, then get back to your girlfriend's." Her voice was hollow and empty.

Deciding to throw all caution to the wind, Aang strode up to her bed and sat behind her and wrapped his arms around Katara's waist and rested his chest on her shoulder. She flinched at his touch, but didn't make any movement. "Your feeling should always come first to me, then the world's," he told her. "I know that I don't act like it, but what you think is very important to me. And I should start paying more attention to you."

"No, you pay so much attention to me that you practically spoil me," she told him, laughing again, though this time it sounded like she actually meant it. Then she sighed and leaned into Aang. "I know I shouldn't have gotten so angry. I'm sorry, too. Forgive me?"

"Don't worry. I'll forgive you as long as you forgive me," he promised.

"Then I forgive you," she said, and turned her head and kissed him, then pulled back and smiled.

Aang felt a rush of relief and pulled her tighter. "You know what you deserve right now?" he whispered.

"What?"

He let her go and rolled off the bed, and popped back up, grinning. "Another song." He cleared his throat and began to sing,

_"You're insecure." _

Katara frowned at him. He shrugged.

_"Don't know what for._  
_You're turning heads when you walk through the door._  
_Don't need make-up_  
_To cover up._  
_Being the way that you are is enough."_

Her frowned turned into a smile and Aang continued on,

_"Everyone else in the room can see it,_

___Everyone else but you."__  
_

Aang grabbed Katara's hands and swung her around, shouting-singing,

_"Baby you light up my world like nobody else!_  
_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed!_  
_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_  
_You don't know_  
_Oh oh!_  
_You don't know you're beautiful!_  
_If only you saw what I can see_  
_You'll understand why I want you so desperately!_  
_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe_  
_You don't know_  
_Oh oh!_  
_You don't know you're beautiful_  
_Oh oh!_  
_That's what makes you beautiful"_

He paused to catch his breath and to see her expression. Her eyes were wide with amazement, drinking in every word. _So far so good._ Spurred by a burst of inspiration, he grabbed her hands and pulled her up to her feet, singing,

_"So c-come on,_  
_You got it wrong!_  
_To prove I'm right,_  
_I can put in a song!"_

Katata laughed as he spun her around at the last word. Then he stopped and let her go to put his hands on his hips, looking at her as if he was annoyed, and continued,

_"I don't know why_  
_You're being shy,_  
_And turn away when I look into your eye eye eyes!"_

As if to prove his point, he stared into her pupils. She blushed and turned her head. Rolling his eyes, he kissed her cheek, then grabbed her waist and started to twirl her around the room, still belting out.

_"Everyone else in the room can see it._  
_Everyone else but you. __Baby you light up my world like nobody else! __The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed! __But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell __You don't know __Oh oh! __You don't know you're beautiful!_

_If only you saw what I can see_  
_You'll understand why I want you so desperately!_  
_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe_  
_You don't know_  
_Oh oh!_  
_You don't know you're beautiful_  
_Oh oh! __That's what makes you beautiful."_

He slid around Katara, whispering in her ears,

_"Baby you light up my world like nobody else._  
_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed._  
_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell __You don't know __Oh oh!"_

_Aang_ jumped away from her, though still holding her hands as he shouted,

_"You don't know you're beautiful!"_

She laughed as he picked her up in her arms and spun around, singing at the top of his voice, letting all the passion and truth vibrate in his voice.

_"Baby you light up my world like nobody else!_  
_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed!_  
_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell!_  
_You don't know_  
_Oh oh!_  
_You don't know you're beautiful!_  
_If only you saw what I can see!_  
_You'll understand why I want you so desperately!_  
_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe!_  
_You don't know_  
_Oh oh!_  
_You don't know you're beautiful!_  
_Oh oh!_  
_You don't know you're beautiful!_  
_Oh oh!"_

He stopped and looked her in the eyes, and this time she didn't look away. "That's what makes you beautiful," he breathed.

Katara blinked, her eyes still reflecting her pool of feelings. _No, they weren't pools_, Aang thought. _Oceans. Please let them be oceans of her love for me,_ he begged silently.

As if she could read his thoughts, she pulled down his face to hers and whispered, "You are the greatest thing that ever happened to me." As a reply, he kissed her with the all the love he could muster. When he finished it, she giggled. "See? You do spoil me."

* * *

*If you want to hear the version of the song that Aang sang, go on to Youtube and look up "What Makes You Beautiful" One Direction Cover by Jason Chen. He did a really good cover of the song. Just ignore the girl.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to everybody who liked the last few chapters! I added a few more songs, though I'm not sure if everybody's seen **Rio**,**_Enchanted _**or **_The__ Lion King._** I think this chapter isn't my best work, though, of course, it's the reader's opinion who counts. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and I might of longed the pauses in between songs to make room for somethings.

Oh, and just in case nobody could tell what Katara sang to Aang, it was Safe and Sound, by Taylor Swift. But she'll sing it to him later in the story, I promise!

I own nothing, the characters, the songs-though I wish i did!

* * *

Team Avatar stood in front of the huge ballroom on the edge of the the earth kingdom's territory the next night, overlooking the ocean. It was made of shimmering polished marble, about the size of the King's palace in Ba Sing Se. All of the lights inside that were already on lit up the outside. The plaque that was on the arch between the two pillars that led inside read, _The Dancing Dragon._ Aang found that oddly ironic, knowing the actual dance to the Dancing Dragon, but for a pretty well-known place, he was pretty sure that no one else knew the origins of its name.

Sokka eagerly jumped from one foot to another, squealing, curling his hands up beneath his chins. "I am so EXCITED!"

Katara rolled her eyes and readjusted gold rings on her arms. She had decided to wear her Fire Nation dress, it being more easy to move around in, though at the moment she really didn't feel like dancing. She glanced at Toph, who was wearing an odd look of eager anticipation. "Hey, Toph, is he going to be here?" she teased.

Toph rolled her sightless eyes, though a blush slowly crept on to her cheeks. "Maybe. I don't know. Why do you care?"

She shrugged, though grinning. "Nothing, just wondering."

"Who's going to be here?" Aang inquired.

"Nobody. Let's just go in," Toph said hastily.

They climbed up the steps and pushed open the huge brass doors. "Are we the first ones to arrive?" Toph asked.

Aang stared the sea of people. "Far from it."

"Wow," Katara gasped, stepping into the room. "How many people did you invite, Sokka?"

"Hey, I just started dropping flyers in villages and cities," he shrugged. "Come on, let's lead the dance!" Without another word, he grabbed Aang's arm, who grabbed Katara's, who grabbed Toph, and dragged them inside. "We have to find the DJ! I have this song that I REALLY want him to play!" He brought them to an abrupt stop, and squinted through the sea of people. "There!" he exclaimed, pointing a man who was earthbending two large rocks, pounding them against the wall, making a beat of some sorts to go along with the music.

"What's a DJ?" Katara asked.

"If he's the person making that awesome beat, then I like him!" Toph declared.

"Come on, Aang!" Sokka yanked on the young airbender's arm, this time making him lose his grip on Katara. He shot her an apologetic glance before disappearing into the crowd of green and red. She rolled her arm and grabbed Toph's arm. "Come on, let's find a place to sit."

* * *

Sokka dragged Aang to the stand where the DJ was pounding the rocks. "Hey, DJ!" Sokka crowed as they climbed on.

He turned around, showing off a very familiar mustache. "Haru!" Aang exclaimed.

The young earthbender grinned. "Hello, Aang, Sokka. I see you guys DID make it to your own party."

"Yeah. Katara spent _hours _on her hair," Sokka moaned.

"I bet it was very well-spent," Haru murmured. Aang frowned. "Anyway," he continued in a louder voice, "let's announce to your guests, who have been dancing without their hosts, that you are finally here."

Remembering that Sokka had brought his fan club-and probably a bunch of other girls crazy for him-Aang quickly said, "No thanks, I don't think that would be a good idea."

Haru grinned, though it looked almost threatening. "Oh no, I _insist. _Hey, everybody!" he shouted. The band in the corner stopped playing and the people stopped dancing and turned to look at Haru. "Hey! The AVATAR has finally arrived!"

The screams that erupted from every girl's throat seemed to make Aang go deaf.

"And he dedicates a SPECIAL song," he continued, "to EVERY SINGLE one of you BEAUTIFUL ladies!" The screams got even louder, a thought which was previously impossible.

"Wait, what? I didn't say that!" Aang hissed. Haru shrugged.

"WHO cares, Aang?" Sokka asked. "Come on, I'll get the song ready!"

Aang watched him jump off, then looked at the crowd of girls that were struggling to get to the platform. Thinking quickly, he jumped off and soared over the crowd to a large fountain about Appa's size, with of two dragons facing each other, spitting water into the rather deep pool beneath them. Katara and Toph were sitting on the edge. They turned to him he landed in front of them.

"Katara, look, I _didn't-_" he began to say, but Katara interrupted him.

"I know you didn't say it, Aang," she assure him. "Why would Haru do that, though?"

"I don't know. And I didn't want to be announced either. He's starting to act really weird," Aang mused.

"AANG!" he winced at Sokka's loud shout for him.

"I'm really sorry, Katara," he apologized.

"It's okay, Aang. Really."

"Why don't you come and dance with me?" he suggested.

She shook her head, though she wasn't sure why. "Go ahead, Aang. I'll be fine." The song started playing, a rather samba-ish beat, something common in the Water Tribes.

"Party in the Earth Kingdom, baby." He winked at her, then kissed her on the cheek, and airbended himself back on to the platform.

Haru pounded the rocks a few more times, then Aang slid in front of Sokka, and they began to sing in synch,

_"I want to party!_  
_ I want to samba!_

_I want to party!_  
_I want to samba!_  
_I want to party_  
_And live my life-"_

"My life!" Aang cried.

_"I want to party,_  
_And fly!"_

"Wow, Twinkletoes can dance _and _sing?" Toph laughed. "You got the full package, Katara!" Katara grinned.

At the last word, Aang sprung up into the air, then landed and began singing while doing basic steps and swinging his arms around at the same time,

_"Imma fly, fly just like a bird!"_

"But you are a bird!" Sokka reminded him.

_"Oh yeah, you're right,_  
_So let me fly just like a air ship, then!"_

"Okay!" Sokka grabbed him and threw him up in the air.

_"Fly so high where I need to come down for oxygen!" _He back-flipped in the air and touched down again, the crowd screaming.  
_"Cause once we start it, baby, ain't no ain't no stoppin' then!"_

"Hey!" the crowd shouted.

_"Cause I just want to live my life, and party!"_

"Hey!"

_"All I want is to be free, and rock my body!" _Aang and Sokka started to pumping their fists.

"Hey!"  
_"Ain't nowhere around the world that I want to live my life!_  
_In Rio,_  
_Cause in Rio_  
_In Rio, I real-realize!"_

They jumped down on to the ground and there a huge space immediately made for them.

_"I want to party!" _Sokka sang.

"Party!" Aang called.

_"I want to samba_

"Party!"

_"I want to party!"_  
_And fly!"_

Sokka jumped in front of Aang and began to rap(?),

_"I'm that samba, samba_  
_Master, master, master_  
_Master, master!_

_"Who shouts out?_

_Imma get your blaster, blaster,_  
_Blaster, blaster, blaster_

They pretended to shoot arrows at people each time he said, "Blaster". Then Sokka turned to Aang and started to sing,

_"You dance fast,_  
_But I dance faster, faster, faster_  
_Faster, faster!_

_"You're too slow," _he stated.  
_"You need to catch up!"_

_"You can dance and dance, but I..." _Sokka wailed off the last note while Aang continued,

_ "I want to party!_

_"_Party!" Sokka crowed.

"_I want to samba!" _

_"_Party!"

_ "__I want to party!"_

"Party!"

_ "__I want to samba__!" _

"Party!"

Katara noticed that some of girls were starting to get bold. No, bold was an understatement. They were pushing past everybody and starting to dance on Aang. And REALLY dancing on him, grinding their hips on his. He looked extremely uncomfortable and was noticeably trying to get away while singing at teh same time. Sokka, who seem,ed to be oblivious to everything, just kept on dancing, not bothering to help out Aang.

_"I want to party!" _

"Party!"

_"__And live my life!"_

"My life!"

_"__I want to party_

_And fly!"_

Aang hurried climbed on to the stand behind him, away from the grabbing hands, then felt someone throw their arms around him. He whirled around to see On Ji, wearing a short red dress.

"Kuzon!" she exclaimed. "Or should I call you Aang now?"

"Uh, Aang's my real name," he confessed. "But it's really nice to see you, On Ji." He craned his neck to see over her shoulder. "Where's Hide?"

"Oh, I broke up with him," she said conversationally. "Which leaves me completely free. For...other guys."

"Ah." Aang could only hear too clear what she was implying and wasn't sure what to say. Of course, he knew the simplest thing would be to tell her that he already had a girlfriend, but he was afraid that he would imply that he had been waiting for her, but he had given up, which was not the case at all.

"Come on, let's dance," she said mischievously, grabbing his arm.

* * *

Katara had to stand up, searching for Aang. He had disappeared from her sight when the girls had begun to climb on him. She finally spotted him on top of the stand...with On Ji. Her heart sank as she saw them doing the samba with each other, both having a smile on their faces. She was too far to see the unease in his eyes, or how he had to force the smile upon his face.

Katara started feeling anger bubbling in her again. _Didn't we just talk about this?! _She turned her head, looking away from them, then saw the pool of water.

Someone cawed in the crowd. An idea started forming in her mind, something that would make Aang forget about all those other silly girls.

"Katara? What are you doing?" Toph asked, feeling Katara's movements as she began to get up and move.

"You'll see," she promised.

Sokka started jumping, pumping his fist in the air as the crowd shouted, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!"

The waterbender took a deep breathe, then started to bend the water.

* * *

Aang was still trying to get away from On Ji, back away to the edge of the stand. But when he turned his head, hundreds of hands were reaching for him. Suddenly, he heard a splash of water and almost everybody, except for Sokka, of course, who was in his own little world, and the band and Haru, who were still playing the song, turned around to see the what made the sound.

His eyes widen as he saw Katara rise up in the air, a column of water wrapping itself around her, her arms moving around her gracefully as she bent the around her, her eyes closed with concentration. It lifted her up in to air, and she opened her mouth and began to sing in the most beautiful voice that Aang had ever heard, and the whole ballroom, too,

_"Flya lya lya lyaaaaaaaaa..."_

"_Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh,_" Aang heard himself sing softly with her. Without thinking, on the last 'ooh', he jumped off of the stage and created a column of air around him, similar to Katara's, and twirled around her as she continued,

_"Flya lya lya lya lya lya lya lyaaaaa..."_

They started to revolve around each other, her eyes open now. She looked up at Aang, who had stopped revolving around her and stared her in face, bending the air with the Avatar Star as he used his hands to grab hers.

_"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" _Sokka was still chanting.

Blue eyes met grey, and Katara found herself getting lost in those grey pools. All of her anger was gone now. The only thing left was the primal instinct in her to be with Aang, forever. Suddenly, she realized that the water she had been bending hadn't fallen back into the pool, but was now swirling around them, encasing them in a ball.

_"Hey, hey, hey, hey!"_

Aang cupped her face with both hands, letting the Avatar State do all of the work around him. His tattoos glowed, but he fought to keep his eyes just the way they were. Her own eyes were wide as she placed her hands on his shoulders. He brought her face to his, but instead of kissing, they just brought their foreheads together, still looking into each other's eyes.

"HEY LOVEBIRDS!" Sokka shouted at them through the rushing of water around them, breaking them out of their transfixed state. "GET OUT OF THERE! THE SONG'S OVER!"

"GO AWAY SOKKA!" Katara shouted, turning her head briefly to yell at him. Aang laughed.

"COME ON! THE SONG'S OVER AND PEOPLE WANT ANOTHER ONE!" he hollered.

She rolled her eyes. "Hey, we got this far in public," Aang joked as he began to lower them down in the ball. As soon as they touched the ground the water drew itself away from the couple and poured itself back into the fountain. Katara turned her head, then froze. "Uh, Aang?"

"Hmm?" He looked at what she was looking at, then saw the whole crowd watching them. Many of the girls were crying, a few were glaring at Katara, and the rest were just staring in shock. On Ji was one of those, her mouth agape. Aang and Katara hastily unwrapped themselves from around each other.

Sokka stormed up to them, looking annoyed. "The song ended, like, a minute ago!"

"Well, I'm sorry that we ruined your schedule," she said sarcastically, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Come on, the crowds wants another song," he argued. "Let's go, Aang."

"Actually, I'd like to hear Sugar Queen sing," Toph cut in. "She actually sounded pretty good from where I was sitting."

"What, me?" she gasped. "Oh no, you must of heard someone else. I sound like a camelephant!"

"I would actually like to hear you sing," Aang said softly. Katara glared at him.

"Yeah, let the waterbender sing!" someone from in the crowd shouted, and the rest of the group yelled in agreement.

Her brother turned to her eagerly. "Come on, Katara. We even just got in a piano. We all know that you're a pro pianist and you can use it for your song!"

"Wait, you're a pianist?" Aang asked.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Toph demanded.

Katara glared at Sokka. "Oops. I thought they did! But come on, Katara," he pleaded. "They all want to hear you sing." He turned to the crowd and asked, "Do you guys want to hear her sing?" A thousand voices screaming replied. He turned to Katara, grinning.

"You are an evil brother," she growled, then sighed. "Fine, I'll do it."

The crowd cheered. Aang hugged her and kissed her cheek. She laughed, pushing him away. "Fine, I'll sing a song."

"Hey, just no love songs!" Sokka told her. "Or the girls will begin to leave."

"Do I care if they leave or not?" she retorted, grabbing Aang's arm and pulling him through the crowd. Girls shot her venomous glances, which she ignored.

"Don't do any love songs!" he reminded her.

She stuck her tongue out at him, then climbed on to the stage, where Haru was pushing out the grand piano. He winked at her, then went back to his post. The piano was a thing of beauty, a one of a kind; its polished black wood shone in the dim light, standing proud and tall. Katara stared at the gleaming black and white keys. Her grandfather had one, back in the South Pole, though not in perfect condition like this one. He taught her how to play, then when he died, she taught herself the rest, playing by the ear. But she hadn't even seen a piano in over three years, since the Fire Nation destroyed theirs and her traveling around with Aang. Pianos were rare delicacies, afforded by only the richest. How could she play after all that time?

Then she looked at Aang, who was smiling at her, his eyes wide with encouragement. "You can do it," he murmured.

She felt her heart swell. He was right, she _could _do this. They sat down on the bench that Haru had brought out with the piano. She took a deep breathe and began to play. Her fingers flew across the keys, pressing them so softly and quickly that Aang wasn't even sure if she was pressing them. But as she played a melody, he could hardly doubt that she was playing.

Katara inhaled deeply, then began to sing in a soft voice,

_"When the wind is blowing in your face,_  
_Sometimes in life you don't see straight._  
_Pray to Him, He will show."_

She glanced at Aang, who was watching her with such ravishing adoration in her eyes, then continued,

_"When your head is in a certain place,_  
_Nobody around to make you safe._  
_Stand strong and you will grow."_

She took another deep breath.

_"Ooooooh ooooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooooh! _  
_Wait till you see my smile_  
_Ooooooh ooooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooooh!_  
_Wait till they see your smile!"_

Aang watched her began to change right before his eyes. She began to play with more confidence, her eyes shining, her voice-where could he begin with her voice? She was like a Siren to him; her voice was so captivating. Her voice was clearly alto, but it held a quality that was all its own. It was like hearing heaven's deep chimes. Katara glanced out the corner of her eye and caught him staring at her. She grinned, then her face turned into a more serious one as she remembered the next line .

_"Don't they love to see you down?_  
_Kick you while you're on ground._  
_Don't let emotions show._  
_People always speculate._  
_Don't let it get in your way!_  
_See, they say things they don't know!_

___Ooooooh ooooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooooh! _  
_Wait till you see my smile_  
_Ooooooh ooooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooooh!_  
_Wait till they see your smile!"_  


Her fingers started to play a deeper melody, now pounding the keys farther to the left. She turned to Aang and almost seemed to sing to him.

_"So you're doing better now?_  
_Everybody comes around!_  
_But you don't really need 'em,_  
_'Cause you're stronger and you're better_  
_And you're ready for whatever they say:_

___Ooooooh ooooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooooh! _  
_Wait till you see my smile!_  
_Ooooooh ooooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooooh!_  
_Wait till they see your smile!"_

_Ooooooh ooooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooooh! _  
_Wait till you see my smile!_  
_Ooooooh ooooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooooh!_  
_Wait till they see your smile!"_

She continued to play, her eyes closed, letting the music flow through her. Aang couldn't help but stare as she finished the song with a flourish. She turned to him. "There. Happy?" He opened his mouth to reply, but the crowd below screamed their approval.

"That was great, Katara!" Toph exclaimed, getting on the stage.

"It was pretty good," Sokka allowed, though big-brotherly pride shone in his eyes as he joined them.

Aang frowned. "_Pretty good? _Sokka, she was great! She was beautiful! She was amazing!" He grabbed Katara and squeezed her tight. "Why did you never tell me you could sing?" he exclaimed.

"Because you never asked," she replied, using his words from when she had asked him the exact same thing. Grinning, he kissed her on the nose, then on the mouth. She melted in his hands as he pressed his lips against hers, closing her eyes and holding on to Aang as tightly as she could. The crowd gasped and sighed at the sight of them.

"Whoa! Don't you guys do that here!" Sokka protested, prying them apart with his hands.

"Hey!" she complained, straining against Sokka's hand against her face to reach Aang.

"Sokka, let go!" Aang struggled against his hand pressed against his mouth, muffling his words.

"Snoozles, you can't separate two lovebirds or they'll die," Toph pointed out in a bored voice, leaning against the piano.

"Okay, if I let you guys do a love song, will you two promise not to kiss again?" Sokka demanded.

Katara stopped struggling, though Aang still strained against Sokka. "How long?"

Sokka thought about it. "An hour."

She glanced at Aang, then decided, "Fine." He let go of Aang.

"So what song?" Toph asked as she began to push the piano backstage.

"Oh believe me, I know which one I want them to sing," Sokka grumbled as he scooted the two off and carried the bench back to the piano.

"Which one?" Aang inquired.

"Oh believe me, you'll know," he promised as he returned to them, then grabbed Toph's arm and dragged her off the stage. He went over to the Flamey-Os and whispered something to them, then to Toph. Aang glanced at Katara, who just shrugged.

Sokka swung himself on to the pedestal just as the Flamey-Os began to play the first few notes. "I can see what's happening!" Sokka announced.

"What?" Toph asked.

"And they don't have a clue!" Sokka exclaimed, pointing to Aang and Katara.

"Who?" Toph asked, waving a hand in her face, indicating her blindness.

"They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line: our trio's down to two," he said, holding up two fingers to her.

"Oh."

"The sweet caress of twilight," he continued. "There's magic everywhere. And with all this romantic atmosphere...DISASTER'S IN THE AIR!" he shouted across the room to Katara and Aang.

"Ah. _That_ song," Aang whispered to Katara. She laughed.

Toph began to sing. Her voice was throaty, husky, and nowhere as good as Aang or Katara's. But it was still pleasant to listen to.

_* "Can you feel the love tonight?_  
_The peace the evening brings._  
_The world for once in perfect harmony_  
_With all its living things!"_

Aang turned to Katara and took her hands in front of him and started to do his part,

_"So many things to tell her._  
_But how to make her see_  
_The truth about my past? Impossible._  
_She'd turn away from me."_

He let her hands go and turned away as he said the last line. Katara hesitated, then sang,

_"He's holding back, he's hiding._  
_But what, I can't decide!_  
_Why won't he be the king I know he is?_  
_The king I see inside?"_

She turned his face to hers and they both sang together with Toph- and the rest of the crowd as well, who figured out the song.

_"Can you feel the love tonight?_  
_The peace the evening brings!_  
_The world, for once, in perfect harmony_  
_With all its living things!"_

The melody began to change up, playing instrumentally. "Come on, Katara, I want to show you something," Aang said excitedly, grabbing her hand and dragging her down the stairs and outside.

"But Aang, we're in the middle of the song!" she hissed as they came to a stop.

"They'll be playing only instruments for a couple minutes, plenty of enough time," he assured her, sitting her down on the low stone wall. She rolled her eyes and looked around. They were on the side of the ballroom, a door propped open. They were in a garden, though far much more plainer than the one on Kyoshi Island. But it was still elegant and graceful, with the curving trees and the tall, wavy grass, the occasional flower popping out of it. The ocean could be heard crashing against the cliffs behind them, though it was hard to hear over the sound of the band playing inside.

"Now, we keep on finding out these new things about each other, like how we both can sing and how you can play the piano," he began, pacing in front of her. "And I can play an instrument, too, _really _well. Almost as good as you with the piano, but I can't play the piano. And I know I sound a bit immodest, but I'm a professional flute player and was the best in the Southern Air Temple. And I just don't want you to hear me say that, I want you to hear me play it." He pulled out a flute from his tunic. It was as half as long as his arm, and the polished elder wood and the finely tuned holes seemed to show that he had taken good care of it. "Watch!" he said eagerly before putting it to his lips.

Katara was about to say that she didn't need to hear Aang to know that he was a good flutist, but then he started to play the first couple of notes, and she found herself wondering what her name was. He paused for a second, then continued to play, a sweet, beautiful, classy song that Katara had a feeling belonged to the one that they were supposed to be singing. She watched him with as much adoration as he had watched her play the piano. She rested her chin on her hands and closed her eyes, letting herself be encased in the music.

Aang blew the last few notes, then glanced at Katara, and gasped. "Katara, you're crying!" he exclaimed, kneeling down beside her.

"Hmm?" She opened her eyes and felt that her cheeks were wet. Aang put his flute back in his shirt and wiped them off with his thumb. "Oh, I didn't even realize it," she muttered, clearing away the rest. Then she looked up at him with wide, honest eyes. "But you really are a good flutist," she said softly.

His cheeks reddened considerably. "You know, they're still playing," he said slowly. He offered her his hand. She laughed and took it. Aang lifted her up to her feet and put his other hand on her waist. She placed both of her hands on his shoulders and smiled at him. They began to waltz. No, they weren't waltzing. They were gliding across the grass, twirling around, swaying to the music. He twirled her around a few times, and each time being rewarded with a laugh. He grinned as he swung her around, then gently dipped her to the side. Katara giggled as he rubbed his nose with hers.

"Hey, will you two get back in here?!" Toph yelled through the door. "The song's about to start again!"

Aang looked at Katara. "We should," she sighed, standing up straight, though not letting go of his hand. Now it was her turn to drag him, pulling him past Toph and into the ballroom on to the stage, where Sokka was waiting. Toph hurried from the door to join them, and the four sang together, though Aang and Katara were more-or-less singing to each other,

_"Can you feel the love tonight?_  
_You needn't look too far!_  
_Stealing through the night's uncertainties!_  
_Love is where they are!"_

Katara was suddenly reminded of an alternate ending to the song, one that only a choice few knew. Her mother had taught her, and it came back to her ina rush of memories.

And she wanted to sing it to Aang.

She wasn't sure if he knew the part he would have to sing, or even knew the ending. If he didn't, then hopefully Sokka would fill in his spot to keep her from dying of embarrassment.

Aang and Katara turned away from each other, walking towards the stairs on each side. Katara took a deep breath. It was now or never. She stopped.

_"And if he feels the love tonight,"_ she sang softly, turning around slowly.

_"In the way I do." S_he put both hands over her heart as she faced him fully.

Aang turned back to her, his face one of surprise. _Please know it, please know it, please know it, _she begged silently. _Come on, it's only two lines!_

Then, Aang's face split into a grin and he strode back to her and captured her face in his hands. She smiled as she rested her palms on his forearms.

_"It's enough for this restless wanderer,"_ he murmured.

_"Just to be with you," _they sang together, pressing their foreheads heads together.

Just as they finished, the whole ballroom erupted in applause and cheering.

Sokka jumped up in front them, clapping along. Katara and Aang broke apart, though Katara made sure that Aang didn't let go of her hand. "Now, that was from our own Avatar and his girlfriend!" he shouted. "Why don't we give them another round of applause?" The audience clapped even harder. "But enough with the slow love longs," Sokka moaned, then continued brightly, "so why don't we hear another from our very first metalbender!" They all cheered. "Now, you know her as the Blind Bandit and some others know her as the runaway," he went on, "but with Team, she's known as Toph Beifong!"

The blind earthbender strode to the front of the stage, bowing and clapping ridiculously as the crowd chanted her name.

"Now, I want all strong, independent women to get up on this stage and dance along with me!" she shouted. Then she turned to Aang. "Sorry Twinkletoes, but you can't stay."

He rolled his eyes, but gave Katara a quick peck on the cheek before following Sokka off of the stage. A bunch of girls came up, even On Ji, who glared at Katara as she passed her. _Bring it, Fire Nation, _Katara thought, narrowing her eyes.

"Now, if you just follow me, then you shouldn't have any problem with this," Toph said, tossing her head back and forth, then cracked her knuckles before starting. She shouted, "Girls, we run this motha-! _  
_

"Yeah!" the girls cried. Aang and Sokka shared a glance with each other, then rolled their eyes. Of course Toph would pick a girl-power song.

"Girls, we run this motha-!"

"Yeah!"

They started to bounce on one foot as they got into a straight line behind Toph.

"Girls, we run this motha-!"

"Yeah!"

"Girls, we run this motha-!"

"Yeah!"

"GIRLS!" they all shouted.

_"Who runs the world? Girls! _

_Who runs the world? Girls!_

_Who runs the world? Girls!_

_Who runs the world? Girls!"_

Katara jumped beside Toph, holding a large water tentacle. She started bending it in short, jerky movements as they continued on,

_"Who runs this motha-? Girls!_

_Who runs this motha-? Girls!_

_Who runs this motha-? Girls!_

_Who runs the world? Girls! _

_Who runs the world? Girls! _

_Who runs the world? Girls!_

_Who runs the world? Girls!"_

Toph started singing by herself while Katara got back in line with the others.

_"Some of them men think they freak this like we do_  
_But no they don't._  
_Make your check come at they neck,_  
_Disrespect us no they won't!"_

_"Boy don't even try to touch this!" _she gestured to herself.  
_"Boy this beat is crazy!_  
_This is how they made me!_  
_Noble Earth Kingdom baby!_  
_This goes out to all my girls_  
_That's in the club rocking the latest_  
_Who will buy it for themselves and get more money later!_  
_I think I need a barber._  
_None of these niggas can fade me. _  
_I'm so good with this,_  
_I remind you I'm so hood with this!"_

Toph laughed as the girls in the back chanted,

_"Boy I'm just playing_  
_Come here baby_  
_Hope you still like me_  
_If you pay me."_

Aang watched as they all jumped into a line behind Toph, then starting making their torso bend from side to side, every other girl going the same way, as they began to sing in a slow, enchanting voice.

_"My persuasion can build a nation._  
_Endless power, with our love we can devour!"_

Katara stalked away from the line to the front of the crowd, swinging her hips from side to side as she sang,

_"You'll do anything for me."_

Aang glanced at the boys around him. Except for Sokka, who looked horrified by her seductive attitude, the rest of the boys around them seemed to drooling over her. He felt a twinge of jealousy, then realized that this was probably how Katara felt when all of the girls would glomp him. So he would have to do what she usually did in public: stomach it and try not snap back that she was his girlfriend.

Katara glanced over her shoulder and shouted, "Who run the world?"

"GIRLS!" Katara jumped back in line that became horizontal again as they started back up the chorus.

_"Who run the world? Girls! Who run the world! Girls! ____Who run the world? Girls! Who run the world! Girls!"__  
_

Toph started to pump her fists into the air as the girls behind her started swinging their arms like a lasso above their head to the beat, which Haru was having difficulty keeping up with, while Katara started to jerk her water tentacle around again.

_"Who run this motha-? Girls! _

_Who run this motha-? Girls! _

___Who run this motha-? Girls! _

___Who run this motha-? Girls!"_

_____"Who run the world? Girls! _

_____Who run the world! Girls! _

_______Who run the world? Girls! _

_______Who run the world! Girls!"_

The blind earthbender started to take back her spotlight as she and the rest of them started to bounce on one foot to the beat.

_"It's hot up in here._  
_DJ don't be scared to run this, run this back_  
_I'm reppin' for the girls who taking over the world!_  
_Help me raise a glass for the college grads!"_

_"41 rollin' to let you know what time it is, check_  
_You can't hold me_  
_I work my 9 to 5, better cut my check!_  
_This goes out to all the women getting it in,_  
_You're on your grind!_  
_To other men that respect what I do_  
_Please accept my shrine!_  
_Boy I know you love it,_  
_How we're smart enough to make these millions_  
_Strong enough to bear the children-"_

Toph gagged, then continued,

_"__Then get back to business!"_

Everybody behind her started to chant back up again,

_"See, you better not play me._  
_Oh, come here baby._  
_Hope you still like me_  
_If you hate me."_

Toph got in the line, and then the girls started to roll their bodies like a wave on each other. Katara caught Aang staring her with his mouth open and winked.

_"My persuasion can build a nation!_  
_Endless power_  
_With our love we can devour!"_

Katara once again broke away from group and knelt down to where Aang was standing, and put a finger underneath his chin, lifting his head up to meet hers as she sang slowly,

_"You'll do anything for me." _

She brought his face to hers, as if she was about to kiss him; he closed his eyes, not thinking clearly. Just when their noses brushed, she abruptly turned her head and shouted, "Who the run the world?"

"GIRLS!" they replied. With that, she tossed his head back as she stood back up. Aang stared after her in disbelief as she joined the others. She grinned at him as she joined them.

___"Who run the world? Girls! Who run the world! Girls! ____Who run the world? Girls! Who run the world! Girls!"_

_"Who run this motha-? Girls! Who run this motha-? Girls! Who run this motha-? Girls! Who run this motha-? Girls!"_  
_  
_

___"Who run the world? Girls! Who run the world! Girls! ____Who run the world? Girls! Who run the world! Girls!"_

_"Who are we?"_ they shouted, beginning to spread out on the stage._ "__What we run? The world!" _

"We run this motha, yeah!" Toph yelled.

_"Who are we? What we run? __The world! _

"We run this motha, yeah!"

_"Who are we? What do we run? __We run the world!"_

"We run this motha, yeah!"

_"Who are we? What we run? __We run the world!"_

_"Who run the world?"_ Toph demanded.

"GIRLS!" they shouted, and each girl struck a pose as the song ended.

Aang had to clap along with the other guys, though Sokka was still staring at Katara as if she had grown a third head. "Lighten up, Sokka!" he laughed, elbowing him in the side. "It's just for fun."

"It's not just that, Aang." Sokka turned to look at him as the band began to play another song, though this one was slower. "How can you trust her to stay with only you and not hook up with some other guy who wants her just as badly as you do?"

_Because she feels the exact same way about me, _Aang thought, his smile sliding off his face. _And it isn't fair to her that I get to be adored by girls everywhere I go and she can't be adored by guys. It's just the way it is. _But of course, Sokka wouldn't understand. So instead he just simply said, "We love each other too much."

Sokka shook his head. "You two are _way _too optimistic. But," he sighed, "I trust your guys' judgement."

"Trust who?" Katara panted as she pushed through the crowd to meet them, Toph right behind her. Her face was flushed and her eyes were sparkling.

"That Sokka would be able to get us out of here before midnight," Aang lied.

She glanced at the skylights. The moon was already out of the sky, though the streaks of dawn were not yet to be seen. "It must be almost sunrise," she murmured.

"Come on, you guys, just one more song!" Sokka pleaded. "Suki made me listen to this really cool band and they came out with this new song and I learned how to play the pipa to it!"

Aang, Katara, and Toph exchanged glances. "Come on, we've only been here for at least an hour!" Sokka pointed out.

"And who's fault was that?" Katara retorted.

"Uh, unless my memory is somehow faulty, I remember you staying in the bathroom super long do your hair!"

Her cheeks reddened.

"Come on, Sokka. It's been a really long day for us, packing for our trip to Curly Tailed Blue-Nose Isl-Isl-Island," Aang said, unsuccessfully trying to stifle his yawn. "And Appa's probably going to fall asleep on the way back. And remember the last time that happened?"

"Fine. But can we dance to ONE more song? I actually like this one."

"All right, fine," Katara groaned.

"YES!" The young Water Trible warrior pumped his fist into the air, then ran off and disappeared into the crowd.

Toph started to back away slowly. "I'm going to, uh, find some drinks," she babbled, then turned around and vanished as well.

And then there was two. Aang turned to Katara and offered her his hand again, a small smile on his face. "May I have this dance?" She rolled her eyes, but giggled when she gave her his hand and he twirled her into his arms. "Now, what is this song?" he asked, looking around.

"A waltz," she whispered, turning her head to look at him.

"If you say so."

"No, it really is a waltz!" she insisted. Aang listened to it, then realized that it actually was a waltzing song.

"Well, then-" he twirled her around again so that she was fully facing him and put one hand on her hip. "-that changes things up a bit."

"We were just dancing like this outside!" she reminded him as she put a hand on his shoulder.

He smiled as he remembered outside. They had been so close together-"

"That's what the song is!" he exclaimed.

"Hmm?"

"So Close," he explained, beginning to sway to the beat that he now recognized. "We played-I mean, we used to play it at Air Nomad weddings."

"Really? Can you sing it to me? I can't hear them from here."

"Or do you just want to hear the beautiful notes of my voice?" he teased.

"Both," she said, unashamed.

"You're right, I _do _spoil you." But he started to sing anyway.

_"You're in my arms_  
_And all the world is calm,_  
_The music playing on for only two._  
_So close together_  
_And when I'm with you,_  
_So close to feeling alive."_

The corners of Katara's lips turned up as she realized that he was singing to her. They started moving around at a slow pace, brushing among other people. Past Aang, Katara could see On Ji stuck with a big, large boy with pimples and pustules all over his face. She watched them through sulky, envious eyes. That made Katara smile even wider.

_"A life goes by. _  
_Romantic dreams will stop._  
_So I bid mine goodbye and never knew_  
_So close was waiting, waiting here with you_  
_And now forever I know."_

Aang smiled and pulled Katara close against him, so close that they could feel each other's heart beats as he sang the next line.

_"All that I wanted to hold you_  
_So close."_

He started to sing louder as he and Katara danced bit faster, though stepping around more forcefully, but still graceful.

"_So close to reaching that famous happy end!_  
_Almost believing this was not pretend,_  
_And now you're beside me and look how far we've come!"_

He gestured to the grand ballroom. Then they pressed their cheeks together in synch as he murmured,

_"So far, we are so close."_

Aang pulled his face away from Katara, then began to do what they had done outside; he held her tight as they seemed to glide across the floor, turning and spinning, so in synch and in tune with each other. One time, Aang held Katara's waist tightly with both hands and she stretched forward, her arms out, giving her the appearance of being a bird, while they were both skating across the floor. Another, Aang launched Katara into the air, then spun around and jumped up to meet and catch her in midair, still going along with the music. The crowd had began to give the couple space as they realized what they were doing, and watched them with transparent fascination.

Finally, Aang pulled Katara to a stop and cupped both hands with her face, his gray eyes wide as he lamented,

_"How could I face the faceless days_  
_If I should lose you now?"_

He drew out the last note and began to spin them around again, though now they both were almost hugging each other.

_"We're so close_  
_To reaching that famous happy end,_  
_And almost believing this was not pretend!_  
_Let's go on dreaming for we know we are..."_

Aang started to slow down, though he pulled Katara closer as he said each line until their chins rested on each other's shoulders.

_"So close, _  
_So close,_  
_And still so far..." _

He buried his in her hair as they truly embraced, hugging each other tightly. Katara closed her eyes, savoring the moment of peace between them. The audience clapped and cheered for them, though they were hardly aware of it.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I know. And so do I," she replied.

* * *

Team Avatar stumbled into the inn back at Kyoshi Island as the sun began to rise. Sokka didn't even protest as Katara led Aang upstairs to her room. Katara went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas, while Aang waited patiently in the bed. When she came out, she immediately crawled into arms and snuggled up against him under the covers.

"Promise me that you won't stay up all night again," she whispered.

"Don't worry about that," he assured her, resting his head on the pillow in front of hers. "I think I'm already dreaming. Because I'm with you."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night Aang."

"Good night, Katara."

And with that, the two lovers drifted to sleep.

* * *

_**Songs I Used(in order of appearance)**_

1. Hot Wings(Fly)-Will I.A.M. ft. Jamie Foxx- Rio Soundtrack

2. Wait Til You See My Smile (Instrumental)- Alicia Keys - The Element of Freedom

3. Can You Feel The Love Tonight - Broadway Singers - The Lion King on Broadway Soundtrack

4. Run the World(Girls)- Beyoncé - Run the World(Girls) Single

5. So Close - John McLaughlin - Enchanted Soundtrack

PLEASE go and hear these whenever you can!


	6. Chapter 6

Here's Chapter 6. I just got back in school, so I might take a week or so to upload the stories. I think I did well enough on the party scene, maybe enough to do another one? Of course, you have to beg and comment to tell me not to. Just teasing! But seriously though, tell me if you don't want another one.

This chapter I decided not to put any singing or dancing, though they will later on in the day. They'll need their energy to take what's about to happen in a few days! ;)

* * *

Aang woke up first. He didn't want to open his eyes, he felt too snug and comfortable to accept the fact that he had to wake up and face the day. It would also mean to unwind his arms around the very warm body in front of him. He peeked one eye open to see Katara looking back.

"You're already awake!" he exclaimed, opening both eyes and lifting his head.

She laughed, rolling out of his arms. "I know. Shocker, right?" she asked, propping herself up on one elbow to look down at him. "You're usually the early bird. But I guess our little party last night threw that off, huh?" Her eyes sparkled mischievously.

He had the feeling that he was missing out on something. "How long have you been up?" he asked.

"Not too long. Maybe ten minutes?" She flopped back on to her back.

Aang reached over and pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the mouth. "And what have you been doing since then?" he whispered.

"Listening to you talk in your sleep," she replied, stretching her neck to kiss him again.

He froze as she laid back down. "Wait, I talk in my sleep?"

"Yeah. It must be a new thing. You never did it when we were still traveling," she commented.

"What did I say?"

"Not much. You were talking about the Earth King and Zuko. Something about trust," she recalled. "And then..."

"And then what?" Her cheeks turned red. He sighed. "You heard me say your name, didn't you?"

"Yeah. And the words 'I love you' followed a bit after."

"But you already knew that."

"I know. But I'm just glad that it's deep enough that your subconscious knows it." She leaned over, then put one hand on her cheek to hold his face still as she began to kiss him softly. Aang propped himself up on his elbows, not breaking the kiss, and held her face between his palms. Their mouths worked against each other, bringing out little moans of pleasure out of each other's throats. Katara put her hands on his hips to push herself up so that he wouldn't have to reach down to kiss her. She gasped into his mouth as Aang moved his downs, skimming down her shoulder down to her waist and cupped her backside that was barely covered by her bottoms. Grunting, he lifted her on to his lap and pressed his fingers into her cheeks, making her moan.

To retaliate, she began grinding her hips against his. He pulled his mouth away from hers, his eyes wide and gasping for breath. "Katara," he choked out. But she didn't stop. She reached down and started to lick at his neck, sending shivers up and down his spine. "Tell me what you want," she whispered seductively, raising her hips ever so slightly above his. "Just tell me."

Even though he knew that they had to stop, he couldn't help it. "Don't stop," he gasped. She laughed and continued to suck at his neck, her hips now grinding up against his abdomen, brushing up against his manhood, which was starting to get aroused. He groaned and threw his head back against the pillows and squeezed Katara's buttocks even harder.

Katara started to run her fingers up and down his chest, drawing her tongue along the frame of his face. Aang cried out as Katara sat directly on his manhood, making it jump up. The feeling was so startling that one of arms swung out and grabbed the marble nightstand. Suddenly, he felt vibrations from the ground below and in his mind's eye he saw someone that looked an awfully lot like Sokka, fully awake, coming up the stairs.

He bolted upright, surprising Katara so much that she stopped. "Sokka's coming up!" he gasped.

"Oh Spirits!" Quickly, she rolled off of him and snuggled under the covers and closed her eyes. Aang stared at her. _This isn't the time for sleeping! _She peeked out one eye, then hissed, "Hurry and get under the covers and pretend to be asleep! He already saw us go to sleep together."He nodded and shuffled under the sheets and closed his eyes, turning away from Katara to make it look less conspicuous.

Just then, Aang heard the door swing open. Sokka's heavy footsteps made it almost impossible for his eyes to stay shut. Sokka came over to Katara's side of the bed, but didn't say anything. He could feel Katara's heartbeat pickup, but he couldn't understand why. Suddenly she gave a snort, and Sokka jumped. Then her came over to Aang's side and laid his finger on his cheek. It wasn't a poke or a nudge, he just...laid it there. Then he started to trace the shape of his face with something cold and sharp. _Was it a knife?_ He drew the cheeks, the nose, the arrow, and lingered on his nose and mouth. He pressed down and Aang felt a small burst of pain at the stop, then felt blood trickle down his face. Aang fought to suppress a shiver. There was just something so-evilabout it.

Aang released of breath of relief as the door swung itself closed behind him and sat up, wiping off the spilled blood.

"You too?" Katara asked as she sat up, too.

"He did the same thing to you?" Aang was shocked. Why would he try and hurt his own sister?

She nodded. "He started touching my lips, then started to try and...and try and feel me up." She shuddered. "I stopped him just in time. It was so...weird."

"WHAT?! He didn't. Tell me he didn't." She didn't reply. For a second, Aang felt inclined to tell her that Sokka had ran a knife over his face, but then realized that she was shocked enough. "That's not right," was all he said.

"I know." She whimpered, wrapping her arms around her chest. Aang, feeling her distress, leaned over and held her in his arms.

"It'll be okay. He won't do that again," he promised, though he had no idea what Sokka was going to do next. To take both of their minds off of it, he asked, "Do you remember the name of the painter that did that glass bowl at the inn we were at last week?'

"Uh, yeah. She said it was Buddimashi or something like that," she replied. "Why?"

"Get up. We need to start getting ready." Aang let her go and scooted off of the bed.

"Ready? For what?"

"To get our paintings done." He looked around before realizing that his good Air Nomad clothes were downstairs in his room.

"Today? We should send in an appointment request," she protested, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"One of the perks of being the Avatar is that people will drop everything they have planned just to service the almighty Spirit," he reminded her, grinning. He stepped over to her and gently kissed her on the lips. "Can you get dressed in that green dress you wore that one day?" he asked, making his brown eyes wide and innocent as possible.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're going to have to be a little more specific."

"You know, the day when we...you know." He squatted down in front of her and took her hands and put them over his shoulders. "You were like this," he said, then snaked his arms around her waist. "And I was like this," he murmured. "And our lips were like this-"

He leaned in to kiss her, but Katara put her finger up against his lips to stop him, laughing. "_That _day? You actually _liked _what I was wearing? I thought I looked terrible!"

"Who told you that?" he mumbled against her finger.

"The mirror."

"Well, then the mirror lied."

She rolled her eyes and put both hands on his chest and pushed Aang on to the ground as she stood up and walked over to the closet. "I _sooo_ do not deserve you."

"But I'm serious," he protested, scrambling to his feet and jogged up behind her. "Just wear it," he pleaded. "Please. For me?"

Katara turned to look at him. His eyes were all wide and sparkly, and his lip put out just enough to make him look too adorable. Her willpower crumbled. "Fine," she sighed, taking out the green dress and tossed it on to the chair nearby. "Now can you go? I'd like to get dressed in peace, please."

"Don't forget to do your hair," he reminded her, tossing up a bit of it teasingly.

"As if I have to do much." She gave him a push towards the door, then grabbed his arm and pulled him in for a long kiss. His knees buckled as he felt her power take him over. Her hands caressed his face as she held it up, keeping him from completely collapsing to the ground. When she finally pulled her head back, she looked him steadily in the eyes, her breathing even, which was the complete opposite of Aang, who was gasping for breath. "I think I preferred the other kiss," she murmured before kissing him again, making his head swim and the world turn upside down. He would have sworn that Katara was bloodbending his heart; how else could it be beating so fast or swelling up with so much love? He closed his eyes and imagined that they were outside under a shady oak tree where no one could bother them, she was on him, she was kissing him, he was kissing her-

Katara finally let him go, and he felt reality clash with the dream he just had. He gasped as he felt the room spin, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground on his back, clutching his elbow, which was throbbing with pain.

"Aang! Are you okay?" She came up behind him and seized him by the armpits.

"You...have...got to stop...kissing me like that," he gasped.

She laughed as she helped him up. "Think of it as revenge for all those times you kissed me without a warning before the war ended."

"But that was only once," he protested weakly as Katara helped him over to her bed.

"Uh, what about the Cave of Two Lovers? And before the invasion on the day of black sun?"

"Our lips only touched for a second and you kissed me then," he said as she laid him down. "And you liked the kiss on the day of the invasion, didn't you?' he asked anxiously, propping himself on his elbows, wincing at the sharp pain in his right elbow.

She gently made him lay back down and felt his forehead. It was hot, as if he had a fever. She wondered if he had caught the flu from somebody at the party or if her kisses really did make Aang this way. "Of course I did," she said soothingly, drawing the back of her hand along his face. "But you shouldn't have sneaked the kisses in like that. You should have just told me how you felt." His head was really hot, now. Now worried, she bent some cold water out of one of the bathroom sinks and started to twist and shape it into a healing form.

"I wanted to really badly," he replied, his voice cracking. "But whenever I tried, something would happen. Or you just weren't listening."

"When wasn't I listening?" she demanded as she laid the healing pad on his head.

"After we got our predictions from Aunt Wu, the Cave of Two Lovers, when it was Avatar Day, when we finally got out of the Serpent's Pass, the secret dance party, and the day before the invasion." He ticked them off on his fingers.

"When did you try during Avatar Day?" she demanded. "You were in jail almost the entire day!"

"Well, I didn't tell you," he admitted. "But I did tell some prisoners about you and they told me to hold on."

She rolled her eyes, and let the water probe his forehead to try and solve the problem. "And I heard you loud and clear at the Serpent's Path."

"Then why didn't you do anything?" he challenged, though his voice still cracked.

"I hugged you, didn't I?"

He laughed, which quickly turned into a cough. She frowned as she pressed her water pad deeper into his head. Then she found the problem: there was a sort of haze in his head. As she worked on clearing it, she asked, "And the secret dance party?"

"Whenever we touched," he said softly.

She blushed. "So, during the time that you were an insane insomniac, you tried to tell me?"

"Well, it was more of a daydream," he confessed. "I told you that I loved you, then I gave you a quick kiss, then you kissed me back for a long time and then we were holding each other, and then I called you my forever girl, and then I swung you to the side and-"

"Wait, your _what?_"

"My forever girl," he said sheepishly, blush slowly crawling into his pale cheeks.

"You are such a hopeless romantic." But she leaned over and softly kissed him on the nose. "But I like that about you."

Aang's gray eyes looked imploringly into her blue eyes, but instead of getting lost in them, he found his head growing clearer. Suddenly, it was like the haze in his head just vanished. He sat up straight, almost knocking heads with Katara, who reared back up in enough time. "Thanks, Katara, I feel a lot better," he told her. He reached up and kissed her on the cheek before getting up and jogging towards the door. "Don't forget to get dressed!" he called over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him.

Katara stared at the closed door, then chuckled and waterbended the water back into the sink, and began to get dressed.

* * *

Aang leaned against the doorway to the backdoor of the inn that lead to the garden, already dressed in his formal Air Nomad clothes. His body was tense, ready to dart through the door in case Sokka came. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't try to hurt him again in public, but if he did... "Are you almost done?" he called up the stairway.

"Almost! Just trying to find my shoes!"

"Where are you guys heading out to?" Toph asked as she came into the sitting room.

"Just getting our portraits done."

"As the majestic Avatar and the best waterbender in the world and the supposedly stunning Katara as his girlfriend?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but then Katara came down the stairs, and his mind was wiped clean as he took in all of her. Her hair was over her shoulders, hanging down below her waist, held in place by a pretty red flower-pin, the dress exploiting her womanly features, her face and eyes sparkling. "_Supposedly _beautiful?" he whispered, staring at her.

"And by that you mean she just came down the stairs," Toph said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Toph," Katara greeted when she finally reached the ground floor. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Just waiting for Sokka. He went out about two hours ago to bring Haru here, then had to go grab The Duke and Pipsqueak on Appa."

Aang and Katara froze. "Wait, _two _hours ago?" Aang asked. "When did he drop off Haru? Did he stay?"

"Uh, I think he dropped Haru off an hour ago, and no, he didn't stay to chat. Why?"

"No reason," Katara said hastily. "Just curious."

Toph shrugged, then turned her head to the window behind her, though she obviously couldn't see through it. "He's back, anyway. Why don't you ask him?"

Katara and Aang exchanged a glance, then shook their heads. "No. We'll...just get going. Thanks, though, Toph."

"No problem," she said, grabbing an apple from a bowl full of fruit and taking a bite out of it.

They hurried outside, to where Appa was laying. The Duke was hurrying towards the inn, a look of excitement on his face. Pipsqueak was behind him, following more slowly. Sokka was slung over his shoulder, snoring away. When Katara and Aang reached him, he said in his deep gravelly voice, "He fell asleep on the way here. He's been up all night, apparently."

"Thanks for getting him in, Pipsqueak," Aang said. "His room's the first left." The giant nodded and continued to carry the sleeping warrior to the inn. Aang then turned to Katara. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't even wan to think about it. Let's..." she trailed off, then grabbed Aang's hand and swung it. "Let's just try to have fun today, okay?"

He smiled and gently kissed her on the cheek. "Fun," he promised, having some ideas in mind.

* * *

"Wow, I had no idea how late we had slept in," Aang remarked, noting the sun in the middle of the sky. They were walking into the village, which reminded him of the mining village that Haru had came from, minus the Fire Nation troops. The streets were bustling with people and they all seemed to be friendly, smiling friendly at the couple.

"Hey, I think that's the painter." Katara pointed to a sign over a building that read, 'Master Buddimashi'. "Are you sure that we shouldn't have sent in a warning or something?" she asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Katara. Like I said, people love serving the Avatar!" He took her arm and lead her through the busy street to the door. He opened it to see an empty room with chairs against the walls and at the end a young woman with her brown hair falling around her shoulders and into her eyes behind a desk, writing on a long scroll. "So much for making an appointment," he whispered to her, then strode up to the desk. "Uh, excuse me?"

She looked up, then her eyes widened when she saw who it was. "The Avatar!" she exclaimed, hastily getting up from her chair and bowing clumsily. "What can Buddimashi tend to you today?" she asked as she sat back down.

"My girlfriend-" she came up behind him and he grabbed her hand "-and I would like to have a few portraits done by him."

"And we also saw a glass bowl with a painting of a couple together and we were wondering if we could get that as well," Katara added.

"Of course! I'll go get Sifu Buddimashi immediately." She got up and pushed past the door behind her.

Katara drifted from Aang, her hand leaving his, to go and look at the painting on the walls. There was a sunset between two hills behind a large lake that glittered and sparkled around beautiful pine trees; a fawn alone in the middle of yellow field, looking scared, but brave as it embarked on a journey of a lifetime; a child running along the sand of a beach, a flower in one hand, watching the waves gently lick against the sand; two people whose backs were turned to the painter, but were holding hands, looking over the land of forests with a V-shaped bay on a cliff. Each one was made with incredible detail and reality that she thought she could see the paintings actually moving, creating the picture in her mind.

She turned to Aang. "You know, I wasn't so sure about this at first, but these look so extraordinary and beautiful."

"Anybody who can hold a paintbrush could make a painting beautiful if you were in it," Aang murmured, coming up from behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. She laid her hands over his and looked over her shoulder to smile at him.

Just then the lady came back in, looking flustered. "Master Buddimashi is ready for you," she panted.

Aang unwind himself from her, though clutched her right hand in his left, and turned to her. "Thank you. We'll be right in."

She nodded, then sat back down as Aang led Katara into the next room.

Maybe room wasn't the right word for it. It was more like a courtyard. It had trees and grass and pathways and small ponds here and there and flowers blooming out of the ground, all of it under a roof and between walls. They curved and bent under the roof until its branches and leaves touched the ground. The only thing out of place was a sofa underneath one of the willows.

"Hello, young Avatar." An old man pushed the long branches of a bending oak tree out of the way. He reminded Katara of Paku, with his long white hair and beard. His clothes, though, were green Earth Kingdom robes stained with paint streaks.

Master Buddimashi bowed to them. "It is a great honor serving the Avatar and his lovely wife," he murmured, standing up straight.

Both of them blushed. "We're not married," Aang said hastily.

"Yet," Katara put in.

"Yet," he repeated. "Yeah..."

The old painter laughed. "You would be a fool, Avatar, to let such a rare flower wilt without you. And you are no fool, no?"

"No."

"Good. Such panda lilies are hard to find these days. Now, how many portraits would you like?" he asked turning around.

"Five, please. And a painting on a bowl."

"I count those as paintings, too. Come with me." He turned around and took them to the sofa under the willow tree, which turned out to be a red love-seat, and made them sit down. He placed his easel in front of them, then frowned. "Scoot closer together," he commanded. "Avatar, put one arm around her shoulder. Young lady, give both of your hands to his free one." They did as he asked. "Lay your hands in between you two's laps. Now smile. No, don't smile as if you were looking at me. Smile as if you were looking into each other's eyes."

Aang thought about it. How would he smile if he had been looking at her? He glanced at her, then saw her eyes. Her lips didn't need to turn up. It was a waste of time. Her eyes were smiling all on their own. The corners of his own lips turned up without him even realizing it. "Perfect," Buddimashi commented, beginning to paint.

It seemed to take only a few minutes for him to finish the portrait. He turned it around to show them. "How does it look?"

"Perfect," Aang whispered. It was done in color, making it more realistic then the paintings inside. Aang looked at himself. He had a face that made him look like he was bursting with happiness and love, his eyes round and excited. Katara's face was more relaxed, though he could see the emotion in her blue sparkly eyes. They both seemed to represent gods, their faces perfect and flawless in every way. Even the background was beautiful, the branches hanging behind them giving it an almost mystical look.

"Glad you like it. Rose, can you hang this up for me?" he called. The young woman from the front came in and took the still-wet painting and took it to a line strung across from two trees and clipped it up there for it to hang. Then she went back to the front room, shooting incredulous glances at the Avatar and Katara.

"Now, for the second," he said. "I'd like to show your elements. You are a waterbender, right?" he asked Katara.

"The best in the world," Aang stated proudly.

"Then can you bend half of a heart out of water? And Avatar, you out of air?" he asked. Katara drew an amount of water roughly the size of a cat from one of the ponds nearby and had to use both hands to shape and mold it. Aang easily made the other half. "Now, back to back. Make sure that they connect," he instructed. "Turn to the side so that they can."

They followed his directions, and made the hearts connect. "Now look at each other, though don't smile." Katara hesitantly looked up to meet Aang's eyes, which were just as encouraging as they had been last night when she had first sang in front of him. Neither of them could help but offer each other a small smile, which Buddimashi didn't object to. As he brushed away busily at the paper, Aang whispered, "You didn't really mind that I called you my forever girl, did you?"

"I thought it was sweet," she replied softly. They both leaned, their foreheads touching.

"That's a nice touch, I didn't think of that," Buddimashi said.

"It's our signature pose," Aang said.

"If we don't kiss..." Katara began.

"Then we do this," Aang finished.

"You two are just too cute. There!" he exclaimed with a final brush of his paintbrush. Katara pulled back and flicked the water back into the pond. He turned the easel back to them again. "Did I do as good of a job that I did last time?"

"Better," Aang assured him. They still had the god-like look of them, especially with the elements between them. Buddimashi had painted the air heart Aang had made and that could barely be seen as little swirls that made up the heart. They looked even more in love, if that was even possible. But it was there, in the way that Katara had her wrist slightly up, how Aang tilted his head towards her, how both of their eyes twinkled. The background still had the willow branches, though they were swaying to side as if being pushed by the wind. Water lapped at the bottom of their robes, as if they were floating on the seat in a lake.

"Beautiful," Katara agreed.

"Great. ROSE!" he hollered again. She came back in and took and hung the picture before returning to her desk.

"So, if you two wouldn't mind, I'd like to paint you two kissing," the painter continued.

"Uh, sure, I guess," Aang said, glancing at Katara uneasily. She shrugged.

Buddimashi led them to a pond and made them stand. "Now, Avatar, I was at your party yesterday evening planning to capture some moments of you. Then I saw the close moment that you two had when you sang that alternate ending to _Can You Feel the Love Tonight. _I was wondering if you could replicate your positions?"

"Okay..." He turned to Katara hesitantly and cupped her face between his hands. She wound her fingers around his arms without hesitating, her eyes encouraging.

"Good. Now, can you just get close enough to kiss?" Buddimashi asked.

Aang took a deep breath and brought her face in and closed his eyes as their lips met. It was like a real kiss, and he was about to run his fingers through her hair when he remembered that they were posing. He promised himself that he would do so as soon as they left.

He could hear Buddimashi painting away, his brush strokes more gentle now, not as scratchy sounding. He wondered how much better his paintings could get if since he had changed it up. Or maybe it depended on the emotion. The first one had given the feeling of being together. The second one had been of obvious love. Then again, so would this one. Unless he somehow put more depth and meaning into the painting. Now that he began to think about it, he wondered how Buddimashi managed to finish the paintings that looked like they took hours to finish in just mere minutes. He decided to ask him once they were done.

Suddenly, he felt Katara press her lips harder against his. Surprised, he opened his eyes to see her gazing steadily back. Without even blinking, her tongue slid into his mouth and started probing at his. She flicked her eyes to Buddimashi, who was too busy painting to notice them. _How can he tell the difference? _her eyes seemed to ask. _You are ridiculous, _he tried to say with his eyes. She rolled her eyes, then closed them again. Unable to resist, he closed his eyes, too, and wrapped his tongue around hers. She dug her nails into his arms, her breath coming out of her nose. He could smell the sweet scent of her hair, the smell of fresh rain pouring onto spring grass. She seemed to fit against him so perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle. Aang kissed her harder, forgetting that they were being painted.

"Done!" Buddimashi declared, startling them. With a groan, Aang released her. "Why don't you come and look? I'm not sure if I got your facial expressions just right." Aang and Katara glanced at each other, then nodded and came on either sides of him. As soon as Aang got a full look of the painting, he gasped.

They looked nothing like gods this time. But they looked magically beautifully, especially Aang. His tattoos were glowing, but they didn't outshine his face, which was lit up, the creases of his eyes turning up, saying that since he couldn't smile with his face, that'd he'd smile with his eyes. His cheekbones were more angular than he can ever remember them being in real life, but it still made him look like him. The only true difference they made in his face was the look of happiness and his everlasting love for her. His robes fell gracefully in folds and waves, the light and texture making it look as real as it did in life. And then there was Katara, who outshine all of him. Her eyes twinkled even when they were closed, her hair drifting beautifully behind her. Her face shone with more than what was in his face. It was as if you could actually see all of the love that the Air Nomads had for Aang reincarnated in the beautiful Water Tribe girl. Her dress made her look even more stunning, if that was even possible. Buddimashi had set them exactly were they were, though behind them were rolling green hills, were it looked like you could see every single blade, yet all of the grass at once.

Aang could see the difference between this one and the other ones. There was a deep sense of attachment and bonding in the painting. Buddimashi had made the way they had been holding each other seemingly beautiful all on its own, a soft touch of possessivness between the two that seemed innocent enough. Even the kiss seemed innocent, but fiery and passionate at the same time. Their lips seemed to fit against each other perfectly, as did their bodies. Aang smugly thought that he was right about them being pieces in a puzzle that fit together.

"It's beautiful," Katara whispered, wrapping his arms around his neck from behind him and laying her chin on his shoulder.

"It is," Aang murmured in agreement, putting his hand on one side of his face.

"Why thank you, I-" he turned around, then froze. "Right there," he whispered.

"Huh?" Katara started to let go of Aang, but the old painter barked, "No, don't move. That's perfect. I never thought of doing poses like that. It shows that you are still children, no matter how strong your love is."

"Hey!" Katara protested.

"He means that we were lucky enough to find love early," Aang said softly. "We get to spend more time together."

"Oh. Well, when you put it that way." She snuggled her face into his neck.

"Wait, let me hang this up." He gently tore the paper off of the easel and shambled over to the hanging line, hung it up, then hurried back to them. He stared at them for a while, stroking his beard. Then he flicked one hand, and Aang felt Katara's robes behind him move to be replaced with earth up to his calves. He turned his head to see her standing on a earthbent stool so that her chest was level with the back of his neck and her body position so that you could see more of her body from an angle. "There. Now we can see her more."

"You're an earthbender!" Aang exclaimed as he turned back to him.

"Well, I do live in the _Earth _kingdom," he pointed out wryly.

"Oh yeah. I forgot. Sorry."

"Don't worry, young Avatar. I get that a lot. So, young lady, would you lean on him ever so gently? And drape your arms over him so that your hands are over his heart, but don't lay them directly over it." She leaned on to him and loosened her arms so that they dangled over him. "Good, good. Now Avatar, can you reposition your arm so that it's on the outside of hers?" Aang moved his arm, though not without drawing the tips of his fingers along her face, then curved his arm under her armpit and placed it back on her cheek, pressing her head over his. "Perfect," he commented, moving his easel in front of them. "Now smile, you two!"

Aang smiled, his cheeks burning, though he wasn't sure why. "That color is lovely on both of you," Buddimashi murmured. "Blush is a color that suits both of you." He tilted his head to see that Katara was blushing, too.

"Stop moving!" the painter hissed. Aang turned his head back to him, his cheeks turning even redder.

After about thirty minutes, Buddimashi called, "Done!"

Aang breathed a sigh of relief as he removed his sore arm. Katara collapsed on to his back, her knees digging into his own, laying her head on her shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked her concernedly.

"I feel like I've been standing in a batch of prickle thorns!" she complained.

"Was it worth it?" Buddiamshi turned the easel to face them. It was great as all of the others, though it was like more like looking a mirror. There was nothing different in their faces, besides the red that scratched at their cheeks. There was a childish quality to the painting, the way she hung over him and how they both somehow smiled goofy smiles. It showed the feeling of deep friendship and bonding between the two, though you could see the love in how she glanced down at him and how he caressed her cheek ever so softly. The background was the same as last time.

"Yeah, I think it was worth it." He turned to Katara. "Katara?"

She looked up, then laid her head back down. "I guess so," she grumbled.

"Come on, no need to be dramatic," he laughed.

"Women can be that way," the painter chuckled. He turned and hung up the picture. "So, which picture would you like to have on the bowl?" he asked, turning back to them.

"What? That was only four portraits," Katara pointed out as she got down from the .

"Oh yes, my mistake. I forgot to show you the other one." He picked off a painting that had already been hung up and showed it to them. "I told you went to the party."

Katara and Aang gaped. It was them at the party, where Katara was in her column of water and Aang was just above her in his cyclone of air, looking down at her as she looked up. Her body was slightly tilting to her water column, her eyes shining, her hair whipping around her, her arms positioned as if she way pawing at something, though he still found a way to make it graceful. She looked starstruck and it wasn't hard to tell why. Aang looked like a god, his tattoos glowing, though his eyes were still wide and gray. His hands were about to wrap her own, his fingers slightly above hers. His lips were parted as he looked down on this simple mortal, and you could tell that he was thinking that she was the most beautiful that he had ever seen.

"Did we really look like this?" Katara whispered.

"Well, I wasn't able to capture your beauty as much as I wanted to, but yes, you looked like this."

"It's gorgeous." She looked up at him. "Do we get to keep it?"

"Of course. It's your fifth painting. So, would you like it on the bowl?" he asked.

They looked at each other. Then they both said at the same time, "The first."

Buddimashi blinked in surprise. "Really? That one's the most casual and plain."

"No, it isn't. We want it to reflect us..." Aang stated.

"...And we had humble beginnings," she finished.

"Forgive me for asking, but have you two always finished each other's sentences?" Buddimashi asked.

"Not really," Aang admitted. "This just started happening. It's like..." he trailed off, trying to find the right words.

"...we can read each other's mind," Katara put in.

"Yeah," Aang finished lamely, putting his arm over her shoulder.

"It's such a beautiful thing. Love so young, yet so strong," he murmured. Katara and Aang smiled at each other. "Well, the bowl will take a while. First I must make it, then I have to paint it. Come back here in two days?"

"Of course. How much will all of them cost?"

"Ten gold pieces."

"Really?" Aang asked, surprised. "When I looked up your work, you said that you charged five gold pieces per portrait and ten per bowl."

"Consider it your Avatar's discount," he said.

Aang looked about to ready to protest, then nodded and bowed to the old painter respectfully. "Thank you, Master Buddimashi."

"It was my pleasure, serving you and your girlfriend." Katara blushed whispered in Aang's ear, "I'm going to got and get the money." He nodded and moved her arm. She quickly walked out of the greenhouse. "Yes, she is indeed a panda lily. One of the most beautiful ones. And the most fiery."

"I know." Aang smiled. "And I love her for it."

Buddimashi then turned to Aang. "Make sure you don't do anything stupid to lose her. No matter what anybody says, do not let anybody change your mind of her, even for a second. Hatred and fear are a strong thing."

Aang blinked, taken aback. "What are you talking about."

"There are many people who would love to see you two apart, even her dead. Jealousy can sprout from the most littlest of situations. Make sure that you can hold and contain your love," he said urgently. "I would hate for it to be tainted and poisoned. Because I think that you, young Avatar, will have only that one girl. If you lose Lady Katara, I fear that no one else will have your hand. Not only would you be left alone, that would mean the end of the Air Nomads. DO NOT let her go, do you understand?"

"I would never do that, Master Buddimashi. I love her," Aang protested.

"And? Love can't survive on its own against jealousy and hate!" he hissed. "Water cannot hold its own against fire and earth! It needs air to help even the odds. PROMISE me that you will hold on to her."

"But-"

"PROMISE me."

Aang stared into the crinkly, green, wise old eyes of the painter, and then said, "I promise."

* * *

Will Aang be able to keep his promise? Will something happen to break the couple apart? Only time will tell! Stay tuned for more!

I think I did pretty good for a story that I did in a single day.

Please comment!


	7. Chapter 7

I present to you all, Chapter 7, with one or two songs at the end.

Sorry about it being so long! I had no intention of that!

I own nothing except for the complete awesomeness of the story!

* * *

Katara returned from packing the paintings away in Appa's saddle to Aang, who was at the post office. He had a messenger hawk on his arm, and was putting a note into the pouch. "Take this to him," he said, then lifted his arm. It beat its wings once, and then took off into the sky.

"Who was that to?" she asked as she came up beside him.

"Toph and Sokka," he replied, "to tell them that we won't be back at Kyoshi in time for dinner."

"What? The sun hasn't even begun to set yet, we have plenty of time to get back to Kyoshi Island before sunset," she pointed out, crossing her arms.

"I'm not done yet, Katara," he said, laughing a bit. "We won't be back in time for dinner because I'm taking you out for dinner."

"Oh."

"The great and mighty Avatar doesn't want his delicate flower to starve after not eating all day," he joked, grabbing her hand and pulling her into his arms.

"Honestly, I haven't notice," she said truthfully, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Well, before you do, let's go someplace I know you'll love," he promised, drawing away from her and took her hand. "Come on!" He dragged her through the busy streets eagerly, making sure that her fingers never left his. Pushing through the crowds, he finally stopped in front of a large building that looked like it was made of ice and alabaster stone, almost like the palaces in the Northern Water Tribe. Written across the archway of the doorway were words scrawled, 'The Artic Seal'.

Katara stopped in front of the doors, her hands slipping out of Aang's. "Wait a second—"

"I thought you might have wanted food from home, from the South Pole. You haven't been back home since you met me."

"Oh, Aang, thank you!" She threw her arms around his neck, then she pulled back, though she still interlocked her fingers behind his throat, and looked into his eyes. "Are you going to try the sea prunes again?"

"I will make no such promises."

She rolled her eyes, but took him inside.

It was pleasant inside; it reminded Katara of home. There was animal skins hung up on the walls and paintings of the Northern Water Tribe doing various activities, though the inside was mostly made up of dark wood. There was two long cushiony seats in the waiting room along the wall to the host stand. He was a rather good-looking man, with stylishly curled dark hair that framed a handsome face and startling green eyes. He wore long blue robes that seemed to go well with his sharply-defined Earth Kingdom features. The host looked up from the stand, then his eyes burst wide open.

"The Avatar!" he gasped. Everybody that was waiting in line turned to look, and then began to goggle at Aang, much to his discomfort. He hated feeling like all eyes were on him; what if he had a tiny slip up or fell below their standard of how the Avatar should act?

Trying to ignore the stares, Aang strode up to the stand and said in a low voice to the host, "Hello, my girlfriend and I are trying to find a seat. How long would it be for a two hour wait?"

"Uh, the next free table for two will be available after a five or ten minute wait. Is that enough for you?" he asked nervously.

"It's fine," he assured him.

Katara suddenly came up beside Aang, and whispered to the host, "Would you happen to know where the restroom is?"

Aang didn't think that eyes could get that big, but when the man saw Katara, his eyes seemed to take up all of his face. He blinked a few time, then straightened out his robes and stood considerably straighter. "Yes, the Artic Seal has several restrooms suitable for our customers," he said importantly. "Would you like me to show you to them?" He extended a hand to her. Aang couldn't believe what was happening; was this guy really flirting with girlfriend _right in front of him_?

He felt a stab of desire to smite him with the power of the Avatar.

She raised an eyebrow at him. Aang hastily said, "I think she find her own way, thank you." _Don't go Avatar State, don't go Avatar state._

"No, it's quite a maze here," he insisted. "Don't worry Avatar, I'll show you and your girlfriend next."

"Uh, I am his girlfriend," Katara put in, and Aang thanks the spirits that he had such a faithful girlfriend.

The young man blinked, then turned to Aang. "_This _young woman is your girlfriend?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't she be?" Aang asked thinly, barely concealing the anger in his voice.

He shrugged. "I just didn't know that you preferred such beautiful Water Tribe girls, though I can see how this lovely gazelle caught your eye." He winked at her. Katara blushed. "I thought that a Fire Nation girl would be more to your taste, since then you can conceive more airbenders that way, or an Earth Kingdom lass. I hear they have real lookers in Ba Sing Se. And both have tempers to help out yours. But I guess you prefer the mellow, lovely, silent types. My mother was like that, though clearly Earth Kingdom. And she had nothing on this beautiful doe." He smiled at her. Katara's cheeks turned even redder as she gushed with pleasure. "Bet he never called you that," he murmured.

Aang narrowed his eyes, trying not to lose his temper and prove him right. He couldn't believe that this man, who had previously had been trying to impress him, now taunting him in front of her.

He extended his hand to her again. "Now, would you like me to lead you to the bathroom?"

Her eyes flickered to him, then to Aang, and back to the Earth Kingdom man. Aang couldn't tell what was going on inside of her head, her face completely smooth besides the blush on her cheeks, her eyes sparkling but entirely unfathomable. She finally spoke, her voice cool and relaxed.

"I'm sorry, but Aang is right, I can find my way to the bathroom. But you were right about Aang not calling me a doe or a gazelle or mellow or silent or lovely. He doesn't call me those things because he doesn't think of me like that, because he actually knows me. He calls me a panda lily, because he thinks I'm rare and precious. Aang thinks I'm not lovely, mellow, or silent, because I'm not. I'm outspoken and hotheaded, which makes him call me his little firecracker, his Oceana, a diamond. He also doesn't think that I'm lovely. He calls me beautiful no matter what I'm wearing, even before we were together, because he thought it was a fact, not an opinion."

Clearly taken by surprise, the host opened his mouth to protest, but she continued on. "Aang's considerate of my feelings and he took me here because he knew that it would remind me of home in the South Pole. He just took us to get our paintings done because he wanted to capture the moment forever, to show our kids when we're married. I think he has been a wonderful, considerate boy and his temper is rarely aggravated unless by jerks like you!"

Her voice started to grow louder, drawing the attention of nearby waiters and some people who were already seated. "Aang is faithful enough to me that he doesn't go looking at every girl that goggles at him. He has kept his eyes on me since we met after I, yes my brother and I, freed him from the iceberg that kept him captive for a hundred years. Unlike you, who I saw flirting with one of the waitresses outside not twenty minutes before!"

"That was completely—"

"And I can take care of myself, thank you very much. I don't need you or anyone else to hold my hand lead me to the bathroom, and I find it a shame that anyone who thinks that Avatar chooses a girl who cannot stand on her own. He didn't choose me because I had a pretty face."

"Well—" Aang began hesitantly.

"Okay, part of the reason why he fell in love with me is because he thought I was beautiful. But he also knew that I was strong and tough and good enough to stand up for myself. And as soon as he found out, he embraced it. He took it in and loved me for the way I am. So I am not going to fall for any guy who tries to sweet-talk me, calling me things that I do not represent in any way or form! So—let me be and stop picking on Aang before I tell him to smother this building to the ground!"

Just then the manager, who had been watching nearby with a agape mouth, strode over to the stand and said quickly, "I'm sorry Mr. Avatar, Lady Katara. Hun, go take your break," he growled at the host. He glanced sulkily at them before leaving. The manager then turned to the couple and spoke quickly, "I'm sorry about that. Hun has always been the type of person who will flirt with our female customers. I've warned him and warned him, but will he listen? This is his third strike," he promised. "Would you two still like a table?"

Katara and Aang glanced at each other, then he said, "Yes please."

"With a female waiter," she added.

"Of course. Let me show you to your table."

Aang and Katara sat down at the private booth the manager had set them up with that showed the rolling green hills outside and the sun that was starting to set. As they slid on to opposite sides of the table, the manager bowed to them, and left.

Aang watched Katara, his eyes following her as she straightened out the utensils and flattened out her napkin over her lap. She looked up to see him still staring at her. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"It's just that…..I had no idea how committed you were to me. I've never known anyone to stick up for me so strongly." He gazed at her with star-filled eyes. "Thank you."

She blushed and patted her napkin. "It's not that hard. All I did was tell the truth."

"Well, then I'd like to hear more of your truthful side." He leaned across the table and kissed her ever-so gently on the mouth, then sat back down. "But really, I'd like to hear your truthful side," he said earnestly. She laughed.

* * *

Aang watched Katara, swirling the cherry in his untouched drink with his straw, as she gave her opinion on the fruity mango drinks that they had been given and how similar to the ones in the desert. As she talked on, gesturing as she brought in new subjects, Aang just watched her with star-filled eyes, not really paying attention to what she was saying, but more to how she was saying it, the way her voice rolled up and down as if she was singing. It captivated him like a moth to a glowfly, making him think of nothing else but her. Her eyes were twinkling as they did whenever she started to talk about something she enjoyed or liked. Her hands, so soft and smooth like river stones, worn smooth by the force of the water, were making shapes and gesturing in the air.

"Not to mention that I can't even tell that there's papaya in here, and you know how much I hate papaya" She looked to see him still watching her with moony eyes. "Aang? Aang, are you listening to me?"

"Hmm?"

"Aang, are you even hearing a word I'm saying?" she asked, exasperated, but amused at the same time.

He blinked, realizing that she was talking to him. He straightened his back and cleared his throat. "Yes, of course I'm listening to you," he said defensively.

"Then what was the last thing I said?" she challenged.

"You said, uh, that you, um, uh-"

Just then the waitress came over, saving him from answering. She laid down their meals in front of them, then asked, "Is that all?"

"No, that'll be just fine, thank you," Katara replied. The waitress bowed to both of them, then let them be. Aang eagerly smelled his seaweed noodles with seaweed bread and cookies. He usually didn't have much of a taste for Southern Water Tribe food, but when Katara introduced him to the deliciousness of seaweed and what you could do with it, he was hooked. Katara grinned at her food, which was Artic hen and sea prune stew. Then she remembered what had happened before the waitress came, and asked Aang, "So, what did I say last?"

"Uh..."

"If you get it right, then you get to have a kiss," she said. "If you don't, you have to try the sea prune stew."

He made a face. "Can't you just force me to eat the meat?" he pleaded.

She shook her head. "Nope. You have to have a bite of this." She swirled the spoon inside of her bowl. "Don't worry, it'll probably be better than the ones Bato made."

"Yeah, right."

"What did I say, Aang?"

Aang searched in his head for the right answer, but came up with nothing. "Something about a tiara?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "Nice try." She scooped up a spoonful of the sea prunes and extended it out to Aang. He pressed himself against the back of the seat, trying to get away from the abomination.

"Please, don't make me eat it, Katara!" he pleaded.

"Nope. Scoot over."

He, like an idiot, scooted over, and she slid in next to him. "Come on, Aang, just-eat-the-stupid-sea prunes!" she grunted as she tried to force the spoon into his mouth, jabbing at his cheeks and nose and chin, but his constant ducking and dodging continued to make her miss his mouth. She growled in frustration, then an idea popped into her head. Without a warning, she kissed him on the mouth. Surprised, but welcoming it, he closed his eyes. Suddenly, she drew her head back quickly and stuck the spoon into his open mouth.

He gagged on the sudden intrusion on his tongue, and fought to swallow the disgusting Water Tribe food. Katara watched him, her arms crossed over her chest, a look of satisfaction on her face. "So, how was it?" she asked once he had gotten it all down.

"It was better than last time," he admitted, massaging his scalding throat with one hand.

"Is it worth another try?" she asked, scooping up another spoonful of the sea prunes. He glared at her, but took the spoon and put it into his mouth. The first time he had tasted the sea prunes, they had tasted like how he would imagine rotten penguin meat to. The second time, although it had been forced down his throat, didn't taste as bad. It was sharp and spicy, he had to admit, and there was an aftertaste that reminded him of the delicious apple pies that Monk Gyatso used to bake for him on special occasions. But there was something about the stew that repelled against his tongue.

He swallowed it, this time without wincing or groaning. The taste that repelled him seemed to die down with every bite. "It actually tastes good!" he exclaimed, scooping up some more.

"Hey! You have your own food!"

"Can we switch?"

"No. But we can share," she added.

Aang grinned and put the tip of it to her lips, which she let slide into her mouth. "I honestly don't know why you didn't like sea prunes before," she said after she swallowed it.

"Well, thanks for making me try. And for that, I'm glad I got something for you."

"Aang, you need to stop giving me gifts!" she moaned, though she secretly appreciated the elaborate gifts that he would get for her.

"Come on, you'll like this one," he promised. "I was on my way to the post office and there was a brand new store that had just opened up. A mother and her daughter had decided to follow their dream and run a shop. Today was their grand opening, but I don't think they expected the Avatar as their first customer, by the looks on their faces! You should have seen them when I walked in and-"

"What does this have to with what you got me?" she interrupted.

"Don't worry, I'm getting there. Anyway," he continued, "after they were done bowing and saying how honored they were and stuff, they were even more surprised when I requested a daily order of their products, because I know that you'll like it so much."

"Aang—"

"And I promise you that you will not regret it." He reached into his robe and pulled out a velvet colored, dark red, heart-shaped box with a large bow on the top left corner and handed it to her. She took it hesitantly and placed it on the table and lifted the top off. Inside were little brown balls wrapped in tissue paper laying on the soft, fuzzy-looking bottom.

She picked one up and unwrapped it. "What is it?"

"The most delicious dessert in the world."

"They look like penguin droppings," she said, a disgusted look on her face. She put it back down. Aang picked it up and looked Katara in the eyes, his grey eyes serious.

"Do you trust me?" he asked. She nodded. "Then open your mouth, and I promise that you will love it." Katara hesitated, then opened her mouth and he placed it on the tip of her tongue, and watched her expression as she chewed slowly and swallowed.

"So…" he began, tucking his arms under his chest, "how does it taste?"

"Delicious!" She reached for another one and popped it into her mouth. "What are these called?"

"Chocolate," he pronounced.

Katara licked her fingers, scooping up every last trace of the sweetness. "Mmmm…I've never tasted this before."

"They told me that it was a secret recipe that their family had kept for centuries," Aang told her as she took another one. "They just now decided to share it with the world."

"They should have done this years ago!" she exclaimed, taking another.

"I know, right?" he agreed, reaching for one. Katara's hand whipped through the air and smacked his away. He clutched it to his chest, surprised. "What was that for?"

"Uh uh. These are mine!" She took the box and pressed it against her chest.

"Come on, I bought you those!" Aang protested, trying to grab the box. Katara held it out to the side as he tried to go around her to grab the box. She pressed one hand against his face to push him back while holding the box up high with the other hand out of his reach.

Suddenly, their waitress started to come down the aisle, and the two immediately sit down properly in their respective stances for eating, Katara's chocolate box in her lap, her hands folded over it. She came over and inquired, "Can I help you with anything?"

"No, we're fine," Katara replied.

"Actually, can we get a refill of our drinks?" Aang asked, pushing the two empty glasses towards her with one hand while his other inched towards the box under the table.

"Of course." She took them and put them on her plate. "Anything else?"

"That'll be all," Katara said, silently knocking away Aang's creeping hand.

The waitress nodded, and turned away and left. Katara looked away from her to see Aang staring back at her, his eyes all wide and sparkly and grey and innocent. He knew that his puppy-dog eyes worked on her as well as hers did on him. He wondered that if both of them did it on each other at the same time who would win.

Katara's willpower crumbled. She put the box back on the table and pushed it to him. He cheered and kissed her on the cheek before grabbing one chocolate ball. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he tasted the sweet. "Now I know why you didn't want to share," he laughed as he took another.

"I know. It's like…sweetness and love all in one," she said dreamily.

After he took a third, Katara took the box away again. Aang raised an eyebrow. "Let's save some for dessert," she told him, placing the lid back on and pushing it to the side.

"If you say so." He pulled his stew towards him and began to eat.

They continued the dinner with joyful talking in between eating. Aang spoon-fed Katara his noodles while eating his own. One time, he put the end of one noodle into his mouth while accidentally giving the other end to Katara. They both sucked up the noodle until it came up and they realized that they had the same one. Aang pulled back, his cheeks blazing red. Katara, on the other hand, ignored him, and continued to eat it until their lips met. There was a furious battle in their mouths for who got the last piece of noodle. Katara, of course, won, but Aang didn't mind. They continued to eat, Katara trying out the seaweed cookies after a bit of encouragement. As Katara ate her Artic Hen, Aang started to talk about the times before the war ended, going over the funny misadventures. Katara, who was actually listening, made sure that she laughed and murmured in agreement in the right places. After the waitress took away their cleaned plates, they shared the chocolate balls, placing them in each other's mouth or breaking them in half and giving one part to the other. Katara even put one in her mouth and made Aang break off the other half with his teeth, causing them to kiss, and they ended up kissing passionately for a while.

"Check please!" Aang called, while Katara was giggling uncontrollably from their make-out. She came over and handed him the receipt. He regarded the slip of paper, then handed her four gold coins. She nodded to them, and moved out of the way to let the two out of the booth.

Aang grasped Katara's hand and swung it joyfully as they left the restaurant. He spotted former Earth Kingdom host boy leaning sulkily against the wall of The Artic Seal out of the corner of his eyes, though he had been stripped of his grand robes and left in plain green shirt and shorts. He grinned and leaned over and tried to kiss Katara on the cheek. But at that moment, she had turned around to say something, and their lips met. For a second they both stood there in surprise, then Katara twined her hands around his neck, and he held her around the waist. Aang closed his eyes, forgetting about the boy, and leaned into her.

Katara broke the kiss, pulling her head back and smiled at him. Then she glanced over his shoulder, then whispered to him, "Let's blow this joint." Confused, he turned his head to see the boy glaring at them, his hands clenched into fists. He turned back to her, grinning. She took his hand again and they walked towards Appa, who had settled down in the field nearby.

He helped her up on to the huge bison's head, then climbed up himself and grabbed the reins and whipped them. Appa roared in protest. "It's okay, buddy. I promise, one last stop, and then we get to go home," he promised.

Appa roared again, but flew up into the air, the couple holding each other's hand as they disappeared into the sky.

* * *

Su Su, the young man who had been the host, got off of the wall and headed down to the post office. He found a bird and stuck a note that been previously written beforehand.

As he watched the bird fly away, a mysterious figure stepped out of the shadow.

Su Su turned to the person, apparently unsurprised. "I don't think this is going to work. She really loves him."

"Oh, she does," a deep, gravelly voice that came from the person. He pulled out a scroll from his pocket. "But I just got a message from Oyaji, and he told me that they had been arguing a bit lately."

"And?"

"She seems to get jealous when he talks about his…fan-girls. And he seems entirely oblivious to the fact of how they make her feel. Unlike how I do." He fingered the scroll, lost in thought.

He shook his head. "She really seems to be in love with them. How sure are you that this is going to work?"

"Because our little friend down from his little fan-club might be of assistance. Have you gotten a response from them yet?"

"I got one from Hei-Won and Won-Yee. They said that they'll be happy to be of an assistance."

"Good, good." He leaned against one of the tables and started bending three rocks around his hand. "Everything is going according to plan."

* * *

"So where are we going?" Katara asked as they soared through the sky.

"It's a surprise," Aang said enthusiastically, crawling across Appa's head to her side. "But believe me, you won't be disappointed."

She glanced at the sky. "I don't know, Aang. It looks like it's going to be dark soon."

"We're almost there," he reassured her. He cupped her cheek with one hand and brought her mouth to his for a quick kiss, then looked into her blue eyes. "You will love this place."

Katara could barely think, let alone reply. She nodded numbly, her mind still on how soft his lips had been on hers. Aang noticed the woozy look on her face and waved his hand in front of her. She didn't blink. "Uh, Katara? Are you okay?"

She blinked. "Hmm?"

"Who's not paying attention now?" Aang joked, pulling her close to him and wrapping his arms around. She rolled her eyes, but grinned and rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of wind and white lotus from his clothes, enjoying the fresh breeze toying around with her hair, loving the feel of his soft, smooth skin against her own. She always felt so...relaxed during moments like this. She loved the moments of peace with her and Aang.

"Hey, we're here!" Aang exclaimed, snapping her out of her moment of euphoria. She opened her eyes and leaned out of arms to glanced over the side of the flying bison. They were over what seemed to be a sea of grass with rolling waves, a tree appearing every now and then. Appa swerved to the side and came down underneath a huge oak tree that seemed to touch the clouds. It was bent over a large lake, whose water was becoming pink-stained from the reflection of the sky.

"What made you think we should come here?" Katara asked as Aang swung his legs over the side and jumped off.

"Because I want to actually have fun once in a while," he said, puling off the top of his formal robes and throwing them on to Appa's saddle, then the shirt underneath.

"Uh, Aang? What are you doing?"

"Come on, don't tell me you're not getting sweaty in that dress," he told her, turning around to face her in just his pants. She had to stifle a gasp, as she always did when she saw him without a shirt on. His four-pack and strong biceps made him look as sexy as the fan-girls made him out to be. Not that they were wrong, but Katara found it hard to imagine that this was the little boy that she had went penguin sledding with.

He caught her staring, and smirked, crossing his buff arms over his chest. "Done staring yet?" he called. Her cheeks reddened, and she decided that she was going to make Aang pay for that remark. She stood up, grabbed the hem of the bottom of her dress and pulled it off, leaving her in her chest and bottom bindings. His eyes flew wide open as he took in her body, looking majestic and stunning against the baby blue sky, the wind teasing with the end strands of her long black hair. _How could she not be a spirit? _Aang wondered.

Katara laughed as she swung herself down on Appa's horn in front of him. "What's wrong? Catfish got your tongue?" she teased as she walked past him, flicking his nose with her forefinger and thumb. He blinked and turned around, continuing to watch her with a look of complete awe and reverence. "Are you coming?" she called over her shoulder as she jogged to the lake.

Aang shook his head, trying to clear the fuzziness in his head, and replied, "I'm coming!" He ran through the grass after her, the long strands reaching up to his midsection. He was just about to catch up to her, when she came to a sudden stop. He tried to stop, but it was too late- he collided into her, and they both shrieked as they toppled over each other and fell into the lake.

Trying to see through the bubbles, Aang flailed his arms in the water. Suddenly, a hand grabbed one of his wrists, making him stop. He squinted and saw that it was Katara. She let his wrist go, and beckoned him with one finger before swimming up back to the surface. Aang followed her, and as soon as his head broke through the surface he gulped in a breath of air, sucking in as much as possible. Katara laughed, treading around him.

"What's so funny?" Aang demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Come on." She dove back into the water. Aang hesitated, then let himself sink into the water after taking a gulp of breath. He blinked in the clear water, looking at the majesty around him. Through the water shot bursts of sunlight, making rays of light. Katara was swimming like a giant Koi fish through the rays, as graceful and majestic. She glanced over her shoulder, then flipped backwards so that she was facing him and swam towards Aang. She extended one hand to him, and he gave her his. Katara wrapped her fingers around his wrists, and began to pull him through the water.

He struggled to keep up with her perfect kicks that seemed to make her shoot ten feet, not even bothering to use her hands; he was beginning to feel like he was being dragged. Aang tried to kick them as straight and powerfully as she did. They weren't as good, but at least he wasn't being dragged.

They did loops and twirls in midair-oops, I mean water. But they were cutting so effortlessly through it was almost like they were in the air. But the time came when they had to come up for air. "That was fun," Katara panted after she had caught her breath, and pushed the wet strands of hair out of her face.

"But we're not done yet," Aang reminded her, taking both of her hands, and they plunged back into the water. He didn't let go, though. He made them go around and twirl and flip in the water, making them look as if they were dancing. Katara laughed during one loop where he was over her, her hair fanned out behind her. He reversed them, so that she was on top, and waterbended the water around his feet and made them shoot down. Then he made them make a U-turn, then shot up out of the water.

Katara shrieked as they began falling back down, though Aang was laughing. They hit the water with a loud splash. Katara resurfaced, gasping. As soon as Aang came up, she opened her mouth to scold or rant, he really didn't know which. And he wasn't in the mood to find out. He grabbed her head with one hand and pressed her open mouth on his. She flailed her arms in the water for a bit, surprised, but then she relaxed against him, groaning softly.

He moved his head from the back of her head and twined both of his arms around her neck and closed his eyes. She wrapped hers around his waist and snared her legs in his. They sank back into the water, their bodies tangled together. Aang had always found it hard to breath while kissing Katara, but now it was strictly impossible, with the water. But he managed to hold his breath as he moved against her, trying to find new angles to feel her lips and explore her mouth. Katara clung tightly to him, moaning, bubbles fluttering out of her nose. He pressed even harder, trying to find her trigger, to find out what would make her go nuts like how she did with him.

Praying that she wouldn't slap him(though it probably wouldn't hurt him, them being underwater and all), he released her neck and pressed his hands just below her breast. Her eyes flew open, and she gasped in his mouth. Suddenly, she broke away from him, and swam frantically to the surface. Surprised, Aang came back up after her. He found her panting and coughing, spurting water from her nose and mouth. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She coughed a few more times, then glared at him. "Can you try and do that when we're NOT underwater?" she managed to say in between gasps. He had to laugh.

* * *

Katara and Aang laid in the rolling green grass on their backs, a little ways from the lake and oak tree. They were staring up at the sky, which was beginning to darken in the most beautiful of ways. But Aang wasn't thinking about the magenta-and-orange-and-pink stained sky. He was too busy thinking how lucky he was to have Katara, the girl of his dreams, to have by his side. To have her here, and he could just wrap his arms around her.

Without even thinking, Aang began to sing in a soft voice.

_"I like where we are,_  
_When we go near and far._  
_I like where we are... Here."_

Katara turned her head to look at him, her eyebrow raised. He blushed and murmured, "Sorry."

"No, don't stop," she urged, getting on her elbows. "I know the song. I like it."

He glanced at her to make sure that she wasn't going crazy, then continued on,

_"Cause our lips, can touch._  
_And our cheeks, can brush._  
_Our lips can touch... Here."_

Then Katara started singing loudly, stopping Aang from continuing the song.

_"Well you are the one, the one that lies close to me,_  
_Whispers, 'Hello, I've missed you quite terribly.'._  
_I fell in love, in love with you suddenly,_  
_Now there's no place else I could be but here in your arms."_

To emphasize the meaning, she rolled on to him, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her. She laid her head on his muscular, sinewy chest. He lifted his head up, his heart pounding though he wasn't sure why, and whispered,

_"I like where you sleep,_  
_When you sleep, next to me._  
_I like where you sleep... here."_

He played with a couple strands of her hair, smiling, as he went on,

_"Our lips, can touch. _

_And our cheeks, can brush."_

_"Our lips can touch...here."_

Katara leaned down and kissed him after he sang the last word. Then they both sang the chorus together, their voices joining in harmony,

_"Well you are the one, the one that lies close to me,_  
_Whispers, 'Hello, I've missed you quite terribly.'_  
_I fell in love, in love with you suddenly_  
_Now there's no place else I could be but here in your arms."_

She laid her head back down, whispering to Aang,

_"Our lips, can touch._  
_Our lips, can touch..." _She traced Aang's lips teasingly. _"Here."_

Suddenly, Aang sat up straight, startling Katara into sitting up straight, too. He looked her deeply in the eyes as he sang loudly, meaning every word,

_"You are the one the one that lies close to me!_  
_Whisper's, 'Hello, I've missed you quite terribly!'!_  
_I fell in love, in love with you suddenly_  
_Now there's no place else I could be but here in your arms!"_

Katara jumped in on the chorus again, hugging Aang around the chest as tightly as she could, feeling that she couldn't possibly holding all these feelings, feeling completed, together, and completely, entirely, in love, alone.

_"You are the one, the one that lies close to me!_  
_Whispers, 'Hello, I've missed you quite terribly!'!_  
_I fell in love, in love with you suddenly!_  
_Now there's no place else I could be but here in your arms!"_

Aang returned Katara's embrace, wrapping his arms around her back and burying his face in her dark, soft, silky hair, running his fingers through it, just like he promised himself he would. Then he remembered his other daydream from earlier that day and wondered if it was going to come true, too.

Without a warning, Katara unwrapped her arms from around Aang and pushed him back on to his back. She scrambled off of his lap, and started to run. "Can't catch me!" she called over her shoulder as she jogged through the grass. Aang stared after her in disbelief, then laughed and got up, dusting off his pants before chasing after her.

She had gotten a pretty good head-start, almost fifty yards away from Aang. Aang, though, was the Avatar, and being the Avatar, he could bend all four elements, including Earth, which meant-

He came to a dead stop and got into an earthbending stance, then stomped the ground with one foot. At that moment, the area underneath Katara's feet shot up. With a startled cry, she was launched into the air. Aang darted through the grass, his arms out, and she landed squarely in them. The sudden weight made Aang trip and fall forward. He crashed on the ground, though his arms still protectively underneath Katara, keeping her from falling directly on the ground.

She took her chance and got up and began to run again. "Hey!" Aang cried, airbending himself back on to his feet.

"You still can't catch me!" she shouted.

_But I just did!_ Aang bit back the retort, having wasted too much time already, and ran after her. He sprinted through the long strands of grass, concentrating on his breathing, focusing on the wind around his legs, airbending them to make him go faster. Katara glanced over her shoulder, then shrieked when she saw how close behind her he was, and tried running faster. Aang grinned.

Without thinking, he leaped for her, just when she turned around to see how far behind he was. Instead of landing right in front of her, like he had planned, he ended up colliding into her. Katara gasped as he accidentally knocked them both to the ground. They both fell into the grass and started rolling down the hill. Katara clung to Aang as they tumbled head-over-heels, her nails digging into his shoulders. He grabbed her around the waist, although he was laughing.

They finally came to a stop, and Katara rolled away from Aang, who was clutching his stomach, still laughing. "What...was...so...funny about that?" she gasped.

"Nothing!" He laughed again.

She rolled her eyes and flopped on to her back, but couldn't help laughing along with him. Then they both sighed in unison and stared back up the sky, just like they had been doing not twenty minutes ago. "You know, I don't think we're going to make it back to the inn before night," Katara said after a while.

"I know." He turned his head to look at her, a worried look on his face. "Is that okay with you?"

"It's fine, don't worry," she assured him. Then she rolled on to her stomach so that she was right next to him, and leaned her head over his. "I actually would like to stay here all night, if that's alright with you." Her hair dangled over the sides of her face, providing a curtain for their faces. He wished that it kept his face from hers, because it was obvious that his cheeks were starting to turn red with her right over him. Her eyes were so wide and blue and beautiful. He wondered how many stars lived inside of them. And her lips were long and full and the ends of them were slightly turned up, not quite smiling, but it was enough to make Aang's heart beat even faster. Then he remembered that she was waiting for an answer.

"Uh, of-of course," he stammered.

She truly smiled and reached down to kiss him. Aang closed his eyes and let his head rest in the grass as she simply pressed her lips against his softly, not trying anything with her tongue or hands-or, at least, not yet. She broke away from him, and traced the outside of his face with one finger. "I'm starting to wonder if it's healthy for me to kiss you," she murmured.

"Why?"

"Because you seem to get a fever every time I kiss you a certain way.

"No I don't!" Aang said, although his stomach was beginning to cramp up a bit and he felt light-headed.

She rolled her eyes. "Liar." But she leaned down and kissed him again, again that simple kiss that made his head spin and his heart pound.

_If she kisses me like that anymore I'm gonna have pentapox, _he thought, feeling woozy when she ended it. Struggling to think, he didn't notice her getting up. "Aang, are you coming?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Huh?"

She rolled her eyes again, and extended her hand out to him. "Come on, sleepy-head." He gratefully took her hand, thinking that he wouldn't be able to stand up on his own.

After she helped him up, they headed back to the oak tree. Aang sat down near the trunk, while Katara went off to collect hay for Appa. Aang had wanted to do it himself(he _was _his bison), but Katara had refused to let him do so, and so he just sat back and watched her pick bundles of hay out of the grass that was waving gently in the soft breeze.

He let his mind wander, and started to daydream about feeling Katara. He closed his eyes as remembered how soft and warm her touch was against his own skin, how her lips were so gentle, yet overpowering, overbearing. He imagined that she was kissing him right them, her hands holding his face up so that their lips could meet, her nose gently nudging his own. He imagined that she was sitting on his lap, though not at all provocatively, and his arms were around her waist, holding her close to him, that their heartbeats beat as one. Without realizing it, a smile crept on to his face.

Katara looked up from the huge pile that she made, and whistled for Appa. He shambled out from behind the oak tree, grumbling. "Hey, I didn't have to get this," she reminded him. "You could have went and got it yourself."

He roared again, and bent his head to take a bite. She laughed, and turned to Aang to say that she was done, when she saw him grinning and his eyes closed. He looked asleep. She puzzled over what could make him be smiling that like in a dream, then she chuckled when she realized exactly what he dreaming about. Carefully tip-toeing through the grass, trying not to make a sound, she made her way over to him. Then she sat beside him, and leaned over and kissed him full on the mouth, making his dream a reality.

His eyes fluttered open, then widened when he realized that it wasn't a dream. She gazed back at him steadily, then closed her eyes as she pressed against him lovingly. He closed his eyes, too, and, just like in his dream, he wrapped his arms around her waist. In return, she cupped his face between her hands and tilted his face to hers.

_I am the luckiest person alive, _he thought to himself, holding her tighter.

She stroked her fingers across his face, thinking how soft and smooth his cheeks felt. She could feel his heart pounding beneath her own, and wondered why it would always get like this when they kissed. She hadn't even done anything. But she loved how it seemed that she could have complete control over him, that she could make him do whatever she wanted. That he believed that he couldn't live without her.

Aang pulled away slowly as they let go of each other, his eyes still closed. When he opened his eyes, she was looking at him, her eyes wide and soft as she gazed into his own eyes. "Thank you," he whispered.

Katara shrugged. "It was the least I could do, after you took me out on such a wonderful date."

_No, it was the most, _he though to himself. But, of course, he knew that she already knew that.

* * *

Aang and Katara were back laying in the grass, though this time on top of the largest hill. The sun had gone down a while before, and now the stars had come out. Appa was snoring softly, twenty yards or so away from them. Katara tucked the cover under her armpit for the sixth or seventh time, grateful that Aang had thought to bring a sleeping mat and blankets, then looked up at Aang. He was laying flat on his back, hand behind his head, the other on his stomach as he looked up at the stars. He had refused to have any of the blanket, worried that she was going to get cold. His face was now tight, wondering, as he looked up into the sky. It was if their inability to sleep was being shared.

"What are you thinking about?" Katara whispered.

"The stars," he replied. "They don't seem as bright tonight."

"Really?" They seemed to gleam even brighter out here.

"Yeah." He turned his head to face her. "It's like I can only see them in your eyes."

She blushed, and looked away. "But they're still beautiful," she murmured as she looked back up.

"Not as beautiful as you," he said softly, still gazing at her.

She couldn't help but smile as she looked back at him. Hesitantly, she asked, "Aang? Could you sing me another Southern Air Temple song? As a lullaby? I can't sleep."

"Of course." He turned back to the stars, deeply sucked in a breath, and began,

_"I hear the wind across the plain _  
_A sound so strong - that calls my name. _  
_It's wild like the river - it's warm like the sun. _  
_Yeah, it's here - this is where I belong." _

Katara let herself drift as she listened. She gazed up at the stars, and they seemed to shine even brighter. His voice began to lull her, like a little baby swaddled in leopard fur.

_"Under the starry skies - where eagles have flown, _  
_This place is paradise - it's the place I call home."_

He glanced back at Katara as he murmured,

_"The moon on the mountains, _

___The whisper through the trees, _

___The waves on the water-"_ he twined his fingers with her nearby hand-

___"Let nothing come between this and me." _

She smiled sleepily as he stared into her eyes. Aang could see that she was almost unconscious, and knew that it was working.

_"Cuz everything I want - is everything that's here. _  
_And when when we're all together - there's nothing to fear."_

He started humming the melody, watching comets and shoot stars flash across the sky. When he turned back to Katara, she was sound asleep. Smiling, he reached over and pulled her closer to him, and whispered the last few lines in her ear, hoping that they would carry on into her dream.

_"And wherever I wander - the one thing I've learned _  
_It's to here - I will always, Always return."_

With that, he kissed her on the forehead, then laid his face in front of hers as he closed his eyes and joined her in the land of dreams, thinking that he was already in one.

* * *

Here(In Your Arms)- Hellogoodbye

This Is Where I Belong- Bryan Adams, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

PLEASE go and listen to these!


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